Resurrection 2013 - the return of Loren Singer
by fictionalmike
Summary: AU: what if Loren Singer miraculously survived her unscheduled swim in the Potomac that early January night in 2003? What if she survived, but was comatose for a long time? Who would take the trouble to care and watch over her as the years rolled by? How would she wake and come to terms with meeting her 10-year-old daughter for the first time? Could she ever get home? COMPLETED
1. Awakening

**A/N added 19-01-2018: An early PM from one guest reader reminded me that I may not have been clear enough in stating "AU" at the start of the synopsis. They are not mine; I am merely taking them out of the DPB box, playing with them and putting them away again.**

 **So, once more for you asleep at the back of the class: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike**

 **Characters borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.**

 **Monday afternoon**

 **13** **th** **May 2013**

 **Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

Just as she had done every morning (her usual visiting time) since she had started school, the young girl walked into her Mommy's hospital room. The older woman behind her wheeled in a trolley. The girl turned the page on the large diary on the bedside table, familiarised herself with the figures written there and wrote up the next page, then she read out the date.

" _Good afternoon Mommy, it is Monday May 13_ _th_ _2013 – my tenth birthday. It is also day 3,781 of your long sleep, which has now lasted for ten years, four months and eight days since you were rescued from the Potomac below Great Falls_ ". Every time, she tried to use a different inflection or intonation, trying to avoid sounding as though she was reciting some ritualistic phrase.

She took a small cake from the trolley behind her and placed it on the bedside table. The older lady who was accompanying her leaned across, produced a cigarette lighter and lit the ten candles on the cake.

Leaning in, the young girl took a deep breath, squinted, blew hard and, as the candles all went out, uttered her wish: " _I want my Mommy to wake up_ ". In contrast to her fifth birthday, she now only uttered her wish once per year, on her birthday.

The room fell silent once more, save for the rhythmical click and hiss of the ventilator.

"OK, Auntie Carolyn; Monday manicure!" The young girl removed two emery boards from her backpack, pulled up a chair alongside the bed and, in parallel with her older companion on the other side of the bed, attended to the manicure of the unconscious woman in the bed as they chatted through what had happened in school that day – and in the older woman's place of work. They discussed the nail polish colour which would be applied on Friday, to maintain the comatose woman's femininity. Over the past year, the authorities had allowed the comatose woman's hair to regrow from the original shaved state (which had successfully minimised scarring from the gash on the back of her scalp from that accident so many years before). A halo of blonde hair now lay across the pillow. The daily physiotherapist visits had kept her limbs supple and had minimised - as far as was possible - muscle wastage.

Manicure complete, the young girl and her companion put away the emery boards and the girl laid her head on the pillow, close to her mother's unconscious ear. The older woman walked around the bed and held the young girl's hand.

"Mommy, all I have ever known is you being here; Auntie Carolyn has done a great job in telling me about you – and providing me with a lovely home – but I do still hope that one day you will come back to us".

There was a gentle knock on the door, and the administrator looked in. "Miss Imes, the doctor has an answer to that question you asked", inclining her head out of the room and pointing at the young girl. The older woman released the young girl's hand, patted her ginger hair into place and stood up, smoothing down the skirt of her tailored suit.

"Lorna, would you stay with your Mom for a while, please? I need to go and deal with some paperwork on this tenth anniversary".

"Sure, Auntie Carolyn. I'll chat to Mommy whilst you are gone".

Carolyn strode down the corridor with the administrator, who led her into a small meeting room; five white-coated staff awaited her.

"OK, what's the good word?" Carolyn asked.

The older, bearded doctor smiled. "Miss Imes, I believe we have good news and a possible way forward – it was fortuitous that you spotted the coma recovery article given that all five of us supposed 'experts' had missed it."

Carolyn raised an enigmatic eyebrow: "I just happened to see it in an old magazine whilst I was flying back into DC last week. Go on, doc, get this right and I shall forgive you for missing it – as well as singing your praises to the rooftops!"

The doctor smiled and continued. "Well, there was a case last year in South Africa last September. A long-term coma patient, Ayanda Nqinana, was treated with Stilnox (which is actually a sleeping pill similar to Ambien) and woke up seven days later, with full faculties, seven years after a horrific car accident. The patient is now undergoing physical therapy and catching up on what they missed".

Carolyn chuckled. "Well, if this works here, our friend down the corridor will have to get used to Obama instead of George W when we ask her " _who is the President_ "; it could be much worse I guess".

The doctor looked at the paperwork and turned the clipboard around. "We know that the US Navy JAG Corps re-assigned the care and supervision order to your civilian practice in 2008, five years after Loren arrived here, giving you total authority. The Navy is continuing funding (and their medics look in every six months and carry out a full assessment) so I just need your signature for us to get underway with the experiment".

Carolyn pursed her lips; there was just one thing nagging at her conscience before she agreed to move forward. "One question Doctor – could she die? I mean, she has virtually zero quality of life and her daughter is now ten but has never gotten a word out of her. What are the chances of this all going pear-shaped and us losing her?"

"Frankly Miss Imes, every day has been a miracle since January 5th 2003. I mean, look at the evidence and what she has already survived. She survived a nasty gash on the head, going over Great Falls without the benefit of being inside a barrel yet with few injuries, immersion in freezing water whilst pregnant, washed onto rocks where someone spotted her; a stabilisation and a baseline care regime until she could be delivered of her baby, long-term care after a caesarean section and ten years residing in here with you visiting every week for the first five years, then you and her daughter stepping up the frequencies once Lorna was old enough to understand. Frankly, that's around 3,500 days more than anyone could have hoped on that January night. I reckon that it is time - we should try to bring her back from the Twilight Zone". He retrieved the clipboard from Carolyn, countersigned the form and handed the clipboard to the administrator.

"OK people, let's see if we can start to wake the living dead".

 **Friday afternoon**

 **24** **th** **May 2013**

 **Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

Slowly – very slowly – the eyes began to register that there was light outside the eyelids. They fluttered open, registering a ceiling with low-level lights scattered across the entire area within her range of vision.

The ears, which had last registered the sounds of crashing water and her despairing screams, struggled to tune into anything at first, then registered the sound of a respirator and something in the background which was going " _bleep_ ".

Something was jammed in her throat. She raised a hand waveringly towards her mouth but quickly encountered a hard plastic structure which seemed to be stuck around her throat. Something was clamped to her index finger, trailing a wire to somewhere down the bed.

Her discomfort increased – as did the number of bleeps audible in the background.

Just as she was staring to panic slightly and become agitated, the door opened; she was able to look down the bed and focus on a nurse who had walked in. The nurse looked down at her and smiled, then reached across to give her hand a squeeze, said "Hold on, just for a moment" then stepped across to a phone and typed in a short code.

"Room 1013 – resuscitation kit please and let Dr Andersen know that the miracle has happened".

She hung up the phone and came back to the bed.

"Shall I get this breathing tube sorted out for you in a minute?" She swiftly received a quick nod. "OK, just hang in there for 30 seconds until I can get some reinforcements to assist …." Her sentence went unfinished as several running people, all in white coats, rushed into the room.

A quick check of her vitals preceded the doctor, with a kindly bearded face, looking in and saying, gently: "Are you sure that you want this tube disconnected?

Another nod.

"OK, we'll give you oxygen by mouth and close the tracheotomy tube; you may need to remember how to breathe".

The steely glare in her eyes caused him to chuckle. He had read, in her file, that the woman had been a determined, spiky lawyer before her coma. The glare gave him confidence that the persona was returning - and that he was going to have his hands full with her rehabilitation and re-entry into the world. "OK, I guess that may have been a bit dumb. OK, stick up your thumb if you are OK".

The thumb went up, just as the patient realised that someone had been maintaining her nails – they were neatly shaped, including a deep pink colour and lacquer. The doctor made sure that the face mask was secure, then looked across at the display screens. "Hmm, pulse-Ox seems to be fine. We'll just give you five minutes to stabilise then we'll move on to the next step. I am sure that you have questions, but bear with us – we have a lot of time and we have been waiting for you for a _very_ long time".

With readings stabilised, the bed was raised to give the patient an easier view down the room. An exploratory hand went immediately to her stomach, feeling round. One of the female nurses realised what was happening and whispered "the baby" to the doctor.

He took the hand gently, smiled and said "Don't worry, your baby is fine and healthy". His only reply was a quizzically-raised eyebrow. He smiled again: "Again, please bear with us and don't worry, because all will be revealed".

The door opened again and the tapping of heel tips causing the occupant of the bed to look at the new arrival. The face was familiar - but older; the halo of ginger hair was layered into a long bob, which would have struggled to match the US Navy regulations which she remembered.

The woman's outfit was definitely not regulation (which was the last thing she definitely remembered the woman wearing). Knee-length black polished high-heeled boots, a grey pencil skirt as part of a very expensive double-breasted suit, over a scarlet blouse finished with a white silk scarf. Above the scarf, a smiled formed.

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living".

A whispered reply was returned from the bed: " _Commander Imes_?"

"Yes Lieutenant, well remembered. But sadly I am a Commander no longer; I've been in civilian practice for quite a while now here in McLean".

" _How long?"_

The doctor quickly raised a hand and took over control of the conversation. "Well, before we address that particular question, maybe we should introduce you to someone whom you have never met, but who has been waiting patiently here to greet you for a very long time".

A young blonde girl, who looked to be around ten years old, scampered into the room, took Carolyn's hand and looked into the eyes of the woman in the bed.

"Hey Mom, I have waited so long to meet you. Welcome back and welcome to my world".

The only reaction from the woman in the bed was a brief scream, which she stifled to a hiccup, not wishing to scare the young girl. She reached out a hand, which the young girl grabbed onto and held tight.

She looked at Carolyn. " _How_?"

Carolyn looked across to Dr Andersen for approval. He shrugged and replied "Well, she has survived this far and seems well-adjusted. Tell her".

Carolyn pulled a chair to the other side of the bed, leaving the young girl holding her Mommy's hand. She sat down, crossing her legs and leaning inwards to grasp the patient's other hand.

"Welcome back, Loren. This is going to be unsettling for you, but as you may be starting to realise, you've been asleep for a while".

Loren pointed a manicured finger at the young girl and raised an eyebrow.

"Loren, the last time that you were fully awake was over a decade ago. You survived the river – someone spotted you and hauled you out but you were unconscious; your daughter was born four months later and you were carefully put back together after the caesarean. This long-term care facility has been keeping you supported and healthy, supported by the US Navy and with my civilian practice as guardian of record. I have also had the inestimable pleasure of hosting your daughter – this is Lorna, because we had to choose a name – in my home ready for when you decided to return to us".

" _Admiral?"_

"Sadly, old Cheggers succumbed to prostate cancer last year. The rest of the old gang are scattered but I'll be happy to run you through a list of names tomorrow".

" _Daughter?"_ The voice was steadily becoming stronger with every sentence.

"Yes: meet your daughter, Miss Lorna Marie Singer, born May 13th 2003 by caesarean at 22:13hrs".

The young girl extended her hand, which Loren took in preparation to shake. As she placed her left hand over the child's hand to complete the clasp, Loren realised that she was wearing a ring on the ring finger of her left hand. Her eyebrows furrowed – had she been married?

" _Ring?_ "

"Loren, no-one knew how that ring came to be there– you were wearing that Celtic loop ring when you were found. No-one knew you were married, but you were obsessive about protecting your privacy! Don't worry, because we can investigate later."

" _Tired_ ".

The doctor looked down into Loren's tired eyes and smiled. "That is to be expected. OK people, everyone out; we shall pick up in the morning. You, Miss Singer, will be in my next research paper. You've lost 3,792 days, so start counting the nights and we shall start again tomorrow."

Loren nodded, settled back onto her pillow and was soon fast asleep, dreaming about the young girl – her daughter whom she had just met for the first time – and an older Carolyn Imes who had kept everything together during The Long Sleep.

 **Loren Singer had survived and, thank heavens, so had her baby. Her new life lay ahead.**


	2. Carolyn

**Original A/N added 19-01-2018: Reading an early PM from one guest reader, I realised that I may not have been clear enough in stating "AU" at the start of the synopsis. They are not mine; I am merely taking them out of the DPB box, playing with them and putting them away again.**

 **So, once more for you asleep at the back of the class: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike**

 **Characters are borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.**

 **To the early reviewers of Chapter 1 - thank you!**

 **Jpstar57:** thank you, as the first reviewer, for your kind words. As to your request regarding the Harm and Mac characters: yes of course, it would be my intention to treat any and all borrowed characters from the old "JAG Universe" with love and respect in this AU - they had their own sets of problems and adventures in canon. I shall leave them standing at the end!

 **aquartist:** I would encourage you to pluck up the courage and to watch "Ice Queen" (the discovery) and "Meltdown" (the resolution). These two episodes (S08Ep20 and S08Ep21) in the JAG timeline (and their importance in bringing us today's "NCIS") makes them crucial parts of canon (and mark the point at which I am diverging into this alternative universe). As to Sergei - well, I believe that he helped to "humanise" the Singer character (she DID smile a lot when she was in his company) but... we shall see how this story evolves.

 **Hawk:** thanks - your kind comments helped to make my labours worthwhile and inspired me to continue beyond what was originally a intended as just a one-shot vignette.

 **222-222-222-222**

 **Saturday, 25th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **09:25hrs EST**

Loren had woken up naturally at 08:00hrs (for some reason, she had slipped straight back into the Navy 24-hour clock) then dozed until she decided that " _today is the first day of your new life, so get shiftin', sister_ ". Looking around, she activated the call button which lay on her pillow. A nurse arrived quickly, plumped her pillow and picked up a clipboard from the end of the bed.

"Good morning; I am Tracy, part of your long-term care team and I am so pleased to finally make your acquaintance. Well, this is the first full day of our Project Lazarus - how are you feeling today? We forgot one thing (of many, I am sure) when you woke up yesterday, namely a question about how you would like to be addressed. Should we be calling you Loren, Miss Singer, Lt Singer or patient 20030129A?" Whilst Loren formulated an answer, Tracy read her pulse, checked her blood pressure and noted the volume in the urine collection bag beneath the bed.

Loren had a split-second flash of the 1960s British TV series called " _The Prisoner_ " and replied, with a smile " _I am not a number, I am a free woman!_ " The confusion on the 25-year-old nurse's face led Loren to explain the reference and confirm that she wished to be addressed by her Christian name, by which time her throat was drying up. The nurse passed her a small glass of water and, admonishing her to " _sip small and slow, you need to get your swallow reflex moving again after 10 years_ ", supported her head. She was also aware of the fresh scar on her throat where the tracheotomy tube had nestled for a decade.

The water was cool and bubble-free. Loren was beginning to appreciate the depths to which her fitness and bodily functions had deteriorated (or atrophied - she wondered which phrase was more positive or hopeful) and sipped slowly as instructed. The sipping experiment met with mixed success: three projectile coughs and a damp hospital gown later, she was managing to get all sips of water heading in a stomach-wards direction - which she regarded as "Achievement Two of 999" on her long road to recovery.

Tracy placed the water on the bedside unit, pulled up a chair and then started a quick update on the schedule for the day ahead.

"Loren, you woke up and came back to the Land of the Living at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, so the Navy support team from Bethesda won't be with you until Tuesday. Dr Andersen will be dropping in around 11:00 (he drops his wife and daughters over at Pimmit Hills to swim whilst he does his Saturday rounds) but he has left you this one-page briefing. He also said that, if your eyes get tired and especially if you feel anything like a headache starting, close your eyes, lie back and he will carry on the explanation when he arrives. He also asked me to tell you: ' _Remember, you have the rest of your life ahead of you'_ and to impress upon you the need for baby steps in these first few weeks".

"Weeks?" thought Loren, then realised that an early task would be to set (and re-set) everyone's expectations of how long, how far, how hard and how well her rehabilitation project would run. To her mind, recovery (from that hellish river) lay behind her; she had been re-born and now her rehabilitation lay ahead. Loren Singer was nothing if not determined. She had been given a fresh start in her life and she intended to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

Loren hit the first problem after less than one minute - her right arm started to ache and her fingers lost their grip on the paper, which she was moving in and out of range as her eyes tried to focus on the printed words. Hovering over her like some helpful hawk, Tracy took the page, clipped the paper onto a reading stand, which she swung into Loren's field of view and turned on the overhead light, so that Loren could read comfortably. It read:

 _ **Ref: Patient 20030129A Singer, Loren M (DoB 07-25-1971, Cincinatti OH)**_

 _Dear Loren, Miss Singer, Lt Singer (we need to arrange, soon, how you wish to be known during phase two of your time with us!):_

 _Today, we shall start the first baby steps on your rehabilitation._

 _Our goal is simple: to eventually see you walk out, unaided, under your own steam to pick up the rest of your life._

 _There will be many stumbles and trips along the way, but we are here for the long road._

 _We have supported you and cared for you these past ten years and we stand ready to support you for ten more._

 _The US Navy is funding your care, because your experience benefits others (just as you are benefitting from the experiences of previous coma patients)._

 _I look forward to making your acquaintance formally, getting to know you and to working with you in the months ahead._

 _Sincerely_

 ** _Karl M Andersen, MD, USN (Retired), Head of post-coma care and rehabilitation._**

Loren laid her head back on the pillow. "Wow, that lays it out, doesn't it?" She looked at Tracy. "How many successes have you had here?"

"Well, anyone who wakes up within a month is usually guaranteed a good recovery - but there are ranges of 'good' of course. Anyone with a TBI (traumatic Brain Injury) is usually impaired in some way. You don't fit that category Loren, because you were x-rayed and MRI'd up the Kazoo every six months since '03, with no signs of damage apart from the dislocated shoulder and broken wrist (which obviously stemmed from your failure to swim!) as the obvious injuries." She smiled. "Your long-term care plan has, since Christmas '03 when you had been settled with us for a while, been to ' _wait until she wakes up then push her hard for as normal an outcome as she can achieve',_ so as you can guess we are rarin' to get under way - but slowly, of course". Tracy smiled and squeezed Loren's hands encouragingly.

Loren thought to herself: " _OK, so I am a guinea-pig. Well, I guess I had to find myself, some day, in a situation where I do something for others_ ".

She smiled at Tracy as her tumbling thought processes over-ran her ability to speak and get the words out so that the nurse would understand her. "I cannot believe that it is 2013; how the heck did I sleep for over ten years? No, hold that thought - we'll answer that later! OK, on to basics; why don't I feel hungry?"

"Ah, that is down to the feeding tube which was implanted into your stomach as part of your arrival. Would you like to see?"

Loren nodded - this was the moment when her life started to get serious again; she remembered the military code of essentials for survival: " _food, shelter, water_ ".

Tracy rolled down the bedding to the foot of the bed. The cool air of the room struck Loren's body and she shivered - then realised that she could not only see the tips of her toes (without a baby bump) but that she could wiggle them. " _Thanks heavens - no paralysis_ " she thought to herself.

Tracy lifted Loren's hospital gown sideways to show a tube disappearing into a neat incision to the side of her body, above the line of the belly-button. "By the way, the girls loved your tattoo - it helped us to get an impression of your personality and spirit, so it spoke to us whilst you were not able to communicate". Loren blushed - the tattoo had been her gift to herself at the end of her commissioning, to remind her that, despite the need to conform to the "norms" of naval and military standards, she could still retain her individuality. The placement of the tattoo had been carefully discussed with the artist, to ensure that she wouldn't violate any regulations during her planned lifetime in a naval uniform.

"We operated on you again, for long-term care, after you had given birth to Lorna - you were fitted with standard items to help drain your body. Your kidneys are still in remarkable shape and the flow is adequate - Dr Andersen will explain how we aim to get you disconnected in due time and how we mobilise patients over a period of time as part of the rehabilitation"

"OK, I understand - I am not going to be dancing out of here any time soon am I?"

Tracy shook her head thoughtfully: "Err, no, you won't be. Although I will let Dr Andersen talk you through the important steps, I want to make it clear that we have very high hopes for you. Since I started here in early 2010, we have lost three long-term coma patients at eight, ten and eleven years without them ever regaining consciousness, so you are our bright and shining star, Loren. But Rome wasn't built in a day and you have to be realistic about timescales".

Loren squeezed Tracy's hand affectionately. "Well, I have the rest of my life. My last thought in the river was a " _I wonder how my baby girl would have turned out_ " and I have now seen the lovely ten-year-old. So, I can only believe that good things are in store for me".

Tracy consulted the clip-board. "Right, step three in your rehab - teeth. You had lovely teeth when you arrived - the front of your face was undamaged from your swim - so we've taken good care of you over the years including regular dental checkups. Now, I noticed that you said your hands and arms got tired quickly; would you like to try brushing your teeth unaided? I can of course join in *if* you need help. But our motto will be _'try at first, build slowly, ask for help'_ as we get you mobilised. You will add to our body of knowledge and you are benefitting from the experience of those who have gone before." She squeezed toothpaste onto a brush, handed the toothbrush to Loren and then stood by with a kidney bowl and paper towel under Loren's chin.

Loren was pleasantly surprised at how well she accomplished "task three". the minty flavour of the toothpaste flooded her senses and she inhaled deeply - triggering a coughing reflex! Tracy grabbed a fistful of tissues and stood by, ready to assist: Loren looked up at her and nodded gratefully as she got her coughing back under control, then Tracy returned the kidney bowl to its position with the up-beat and encouraging comment: "Well, that confirms your lungs are working!".

Just as Loren caught her breath and got ready to "rinse and spit", the door of the room opened and, once more, the sound of tapping heels approached, accompanied by the slightly softer sound of a scampering ten-year-old in a direct course towards her mom's bed.

Loren quickly wiped her face and smiled at the visitors. She looked enviously at Carolyn's long, unmarked neck (she had already realised that she would carry a scar from the tracheotomy tube, although that was a small price to pay for being able to breathe during her Long Sleep). She admired the trim jeans (tucked into the obligatory long black boots), the smart red sweater and the white blouse collar peeking out from the neck of the sweater. Quite obviously, Carolyn Imes was clearly a woman who chose her wardrobe with care and dressed herself with pride. " _So why isn't she still in the Navy?_ ", pondered Loren. The question was swiftly discarded as Lorna arrived at the bedside, well-dressed in a lightweight winter coat. Mother and daughter exchanged hand-clasps.

"First full day, Mommy!" squeaked Lorna. "Auntie Carolyn has told me I need to be patient, but I wanted to bring you the pictures that I painted on your birthdays, so you can have them on your wall". A series of pages were handed over from a portfolio: in the time-span from age five until age ten, Lorna's artistic skills had clearly developed from the five-year-old "stick-(wo)man" with "mommy" crayoned above, to a remarkably-sophisticated line drawing of a colonial house, with portico, and a passable impression of Loren's face (probably copied from her old Navy identification badge). Clearly, Lorna had artistic capabilities and Carolyn had encouraged her.

Loren laid her head back on her pillow, took a sip of water then asked Tracy to tilt her bed up further; the mechanism moved her up into a sitting position. She spread the pictures on the bedcover, then looked at each one, discussing the relative merits of the "painting" styles with her daughter. Carolyn and Tracy looked on admiringly.

Around 11:00hrs, the door opened once more to admit Dr Andersen. He checked the medical readings clipboard, nodded approvingly and seated himself in the chair closest to Loren's pillow; Carolyn and Lorna pulled up two chairs from the far end of the room and Tracy stood behind them.

"So, Loren; we have you awake, drinking, cleaning your teeth and with a good cough reflex - a good morning's work I feel". He smiled, then his face became serious and he looked deep into Loren's eyes. "Now we start the hard work. We shall be working with you through a process which has been developed by - and improved with experience gained from every case - the rehabilitation of long-term coma patients from around the world. Sadly we have had a few here in the USA, since 2001 and the increased tempo of military operations".

Loren nodded: "Yes, I haven't seen a newspaper or TV, so I am ten years out of date, but my swim was only 16 months after the Twin Towers fell, so I would guess that we are still chasing bad guys around the world and losing good people".

At this Carolyn gasped, pulled a tissue from her purse and ran out of the room. Before the door closed, Loren thought she heard the sound of weeping.

Lorna excused herself, slid down from her chair and headed out of the door with an obvious intention to follow Carolyn to wherever the older woman had run.

Loren looked enquiringly at Dr Andersen. He took a deep breath and explained: "I recall from the notes that your colleagues gave us when we were planning your long-term care and the eventual Awakening, that you had a reputation for speaking your mind. Carolyn puts up a great shield of invincibility (she is a children's rights lawyer and advocate after all) but apart from being your daughter's legal guardian she has experienced a couple of setbacks in her life. She lost someone close - she always refers to him, on the very rare occasions that she opens up, as 'my Marine' but I believe it happened some years back and I am sure, Loren, that she will tell you at some point".

Loren nodded her understanding: the past could always throw up complications when you least expected them.

Dr Andersen continued the briefing, admonishing Loren to " _tell me the moment this causes your brain to hurt_ ". Loren smiled, and retorted with the witty repartee: "Come on doc, the brain has rested for a decade; along with the body, it is going to need some pretty stiff exercising over the coming months".

Andersen nodded: "I am glad that you are already talking in months. That shows me that you understand the long hard road ahead, leading to rehabilitation and a full recovery. With most patients, we have a timeline (a project plan if you will) to show the activities and the steps along the road - but we don't put dates on it at the beginning. We know, from our body of knowledge, the tasks and the steps and the pitfalls and the relapses which are common, but with a motivated patient like you, along with us as motivated professionals, we all desire to get you over the threshold - that is, the threshold of this facility - and back out into life".

"Wow, I bet you tell all the girls that!" Loren was encouraged by Andersen's approach; she was beginning to believe that the long nightmare might actually lead to a happy ending. He smiled in acknowledgement and continued.

"OK; a couple of things; some recovered patients have unexpectedly suffered strokes in the first year post-awakening, so we shall be scanning you every three months for the first year, then at six-monthly intervals after that. So expect us to be scanning, measuring and probing every part of you on an ongoing basis".

"OK doc, let me know if you find a brain!"

"You know, Loren, this could be the start of a wonderful friendship - and I will be proud to add you to the body of knowledge" replied Andersen. His briefing continued, listing likely activities, challenges and pitfalls, treatment plans, what he would want Loren to accomplish and how she must lean on the team around her if she every felt close to falling, failing or keeling over. "This is not a race, it is a journey where you may decide to explore an occasional view of country roads when you hop off the highway for a while before you come back to the main drag" he explained.

"The next step - if you'll pardon the pun - is to start getting you mobilised - that is, walking. I want you self-powered (even if on crutches) so that you can get to the bathroom. The commode is a starting point, but only a stepping stone. We also find that it helps our patients' self-esteem once they recover full continence".

"Yeah doc, I can agree with that. I feel as weak as a newborn kitten" observed Loren. Andersen smiled: "NASA want to come and poke and prod you as well; you have slept for the equivalent of five round trips to Mars, so the Astronaut Corps may learn some lessons ahead of the deep-space missions in the 2020s. The physical therapy team have been manipulating your limbs and stimulating your muscles electrically, to try to maintain muscle tone, so this may have a bearing on long-endurance space missions. You will be in demand, young Loren, for some time to come".

"Young? Oh lord, I hadn't thought of that - am I classed as middle-aged now?" wondered Loren. She realised that she hadn't yet looked in a mirror since early 2003 when she had checked her appearance before heading to Benzingers to meet up with Harmon Rabb for more aggravating inquiries regarding the parentage of her foetus.

Andersen smiled and stroked his (greying) beard: "not until you hit at least 50 in my book - remember Loren, in some ways you are only 32, not 42".

"Flatterer! I like you!" replied Loren, smiling, just as the door opened. Lorna led the way, with Carolyn following on behind. Andersen excused himself with a cheery "See you tomorrow for Sunday prayers" then he headed out, pleading the excuse that he needed to check in on other patients and the need to hook up with his wife and daughters after their swim.

Lorna grasped Loren's hand and sat in the closest chair, whilst Carolyn settled into the second chair and crossed her legs, settling back against the chair. She slumped slightly - in stark contrast to the upright "former military person" posture which Loren had noticed briefly the day before. The careful re-application of mascara and face powder had almost - but not quite - distracted attention from the red-rimmed eyes which had obviously shed tears.

Loren raised a reassuring smile: "Carolyn, I had no idea when I spoke, but Dr Andersen gave me a *very* brief one-line explanation. Could you please forgive me for my insensitivity; I would never wish to cause you pain".

Carolyn smiled. "Thank you Loren, you just hit me unawares; it's been nearly ten years since I lost my Marine - Lorna knows the story". Loren raised an eyebrow, prompting Carolyn to start her story.

"Pete was the guy who spotted you on that rock in the Potomac; it was almost dark but for some reason your cover caught his eye. He got to you, called for help, hung onto you to keep you out of the river and - most importantly - provided the witness statement which eventually nailed Lindsey after Harmon Rabb had been arrested for attempted murder".

Loren looked concerned: "Look, Rabb was a bit obsessive - and frankly an annoying pain in the ass - because he thought Sergei was the father, but he wasn't at the bridge that evening." She smiled to herself; "Sergei was keen and enthusiastic, but way too young to become my lover".

"Yes, we gathered that - and Pete's witness statement on the comparative heights between you and your attacker cleared Harm (by more than six inches). But because Pete was so focussed on your recovery (he stayed with you in hospital for two days straight, once the ER had finished with you) it wasn't until the third day that he gave his statement. By that time, DC Police had handed the case to NCIS and Agent Gibbs had interviewed then arrested Harm."

Carolyn smiled, long-forgotten memories stirring: "Harm did his customary ' _high and mighty'_ impression of a clam (we guess because he thought that Sergei was involved somehow), was charged and had the inestimable pleasure of being allocated the wonderful Cdr Faith Coleman as his defence attorney (because the Admiral had to bring in someone from the west coast who wasn't connected to JAG HQ)."

Carolyn's nose wrinkled as she recalled the freckled navy JAG Commander with what everyone had referred to as " _the OCD briefcase from hell_ ".

She continued: "Anyway, it worked out well for several reasons. Faith Coleman faced off against Major Jack McBurney when they came to defend and prosecute Lindsey; after the case, the two of them got together and Major Jack thawed out the West Coast Ice Queen. So, 'little Miss OCD' is now 'Captain Faith McBurney' and she runs the San Diego RLSO where she pioneered the crèche/daycare facilities for the two little McBurney offspring. It is reported that she is now a fully-fledged member of the human race; she no longer sits with her knees together and all body joints at 90 degrees!"

"Carolyn, you paint an interesting picture of this Faith Coleman! Obviously I never met her or Major McBurney because I was already in the twilight zone (as someone around here has so charmingly called it). So, getting back to your Pete?"

"Oh yes. I was peripherally involved with your rescue, but when it became clear that you weren't going to wake up for a while, a team of us were allocated to put together a care package for you and your unborn baby. Bethesda were heavily involved - which is why they will be here mob-handed on Tuesday - and a couple of civilian obstetricians (and subsequently paediatricians) donated their time for the benefit of "Project Singer". Pete turned up at JAG one day with your cover after the Lindsey court-martial - he'd stuck it in his coat as a reflex whilst he was holding you up on the rock and hollering for help. We went for a coffee, stayed in touch and then, when Lorna was delivered, we all went out to celebrate and, well, one thing led to another. Pete and I finally got serious after Lorna's christening at the end of July of '03". Carolyn blushed and looked slightly sheepish as she related the tale.

"Something good happened, obviously?" Loren wasn't going the "lead the witness" but her curiosity antennae were flapping at full speed!

Carolyn continued. "Pete was fully-engaged in preparing his MEU ready for deployment, which meant that we were able to spend time together. A couple of weeks later he deployed. Five weeks after that I started getting queasy (I threw up one morning in Owen Sebring's waste-paper basket in court - very professional, I can tell you - but Owen was so sweet and understanding when I blamed food poisoning and of course his wife at that time was very sick, so he was the best possible judge for me to barf in front of!) so then I took a pregnancy test. Our happy accident was confirmed but I wanted to wait to get through week 13 before we started telling anybody."

Loren smiled: "Yes, I know the feeling; unfortunately I was already embarked on the carrier when I suddenly started to feel pukey and believe me, there is nowhere worse than an aircraft carrier at sea to discover that your contraception arrangements were less than 100% effective" Loren chuckled: "It nearly torpedoed my career".

"Yes, I remember the rumour and scuttlebutt at the time. Anyway, Tracy Manetti and I were putting together the guardianship package for little Lorna with Virginia and DC social services, so I was knee-deep in all things child related". Carolyn paused. "And then my status as an attorney was questioned".

"What? How? Why? When?" Loren quickly ran out of inquisitive words.

"Although I met the JAG qualifications to try courts-martial at the time I had joined up, the rules had changed subsequently and I fell into a grey area, because I hadn't passed the Michigan Bar (I missed by one point but joined the Navy JAG Corps and served without problem for twelve years). Anyway, Chegwidden took the hard option; I was prosecuted, tried, found guilty but that was when my luck changed - for both good and bad".

Carolyn paused, took a deep breath and carried on.

"After I was found guilty, Judge Morris gave me a wonderful speech from the bench. Of course, my Navy JAG career was toast, but he didn't impose a criminal sentence which would have been a really bad outcome. No-one had twigged that I was pregnant - I hadn't started to show, and even at that stage I got away with a more-generous skirt and keeping my jacket buttoned. So it was that I walked out from JAG unemployed, defrocked as a naval officer and 14 weeks pregnant - oh, and unmarried as well. That very night, a Colonel of Marines and a Chaplain walked up to my door. An IED had exploded and Pete hadn't stood a chance. But, bless him, he *had* updated his will and named me as his sole beneficiary, so my finances improved with his GI death benefit. A week later I was standing alongside a hole in the ground in Arlington (do you know how cold it gets in late October there?) dressed in black and being handed a folded flag".

"God, Carolyn, how awful. So, you were by this time 15 weeks pregnant, I guess?"

Carolyn sighed: "Yes, at that point I was..." She shook herself and carried on, half-forgotten memories and images flooding her mind. "I must have caught a chill, because I remember talking with Pete's Mom after the service, getting into my car and driving home, taking my coat off and hanging it up, reaching down and unzipping my boots, turning up the heat in my apartment and then - zip! Next thing I know, Tracy Manetti is desperately trying to wake me up, I'm lying in a pool of blood on the floor of my apartment and the EMTs are coming through the door".

Loren guessed what was coming next: "Miscarriage?"

"Yep, the worst sort. So that took away the only piece of Pete that I had left".

Loren reached out a hand from her hospital bed and grasped Carolyn's hand: "something tells me that you're not the sort of girl to curl up and shy away from the world?"

"Heck no; Pete would not have wanted a whimpering female hiding away from the world, and my parents didn't waste money feeding a kid who would give up! I reckoned that things could not get any worse, so once I was cleaned up I used my aunt Carolyn's legacy (she was the fully-qualified lawyer on the Michigan Bar, but as Carolyn Rosemary Imes as opposed to me as Carolyn Rebecca), went back to law school and, this time, qualified with a score at the mid-point between 'perfect 100%' and 'fail'. I threw myself into working with Tracy on updating Lorna's care package (you had been out of it for nearly two years by this point), got the courts to award me guardianship of Lorna thanks to some really supportive letters of recommendation from my old JAG family, and became a childrens' advocate once I qualified. And that's where I am today: Carolyn R Imes, the well-known lawyer and advocate in Tysons Corner."

As she had been speaking, Carolyn had been absent-mindedly turning the simple gold band on her ring finger, prompting a question from Loren.

"So Carolyn, with all that behind you by - what - the end of '04, did you ever marry? I'm looking at that ring..."

Oh no, I am still nominally a spinster! When Pete's mom passed away in '06, she bequeathed everything to me - Pete was an only child and she described me as "the closest thing to a daughter-in-law we ever had from Pete" and specifically asked me to use her wedding ring when I married. But that wasn't in my life plan once I had loved and lost Pete. So I snuck up to Arlington, scattered her ashes on Pete's grave when no-one was looking, stood there in front of the headstone and put the ring on."

She held her left hand up. "It's been here, on my finger, since then. I also wear some item of black when I am out of the house, as a mark of my respect for my Marine and to honour his memory".

"But surely, you are a fit, lively, beautiful and healthy woman in her prime. Any man who is attracted to you would be attracted, move in close, see the ring, and bale out?" Loren's recently-revived brain was struggling; why would a healthy woman close herself off from the possibility of a new relationship and pleasures?

"Loren, I had already had the best; those five months with Pete were the happiest days of my life - ever, without doubt or the hint of a question".

Carolyn looked down once more at the ring on her finger, then looked up at Loren and smiled conspiratorially: "Besides, once Pete had me, I was effectively 'spoiled' for any other man. Pete was military perfection on legs - I would never be that lucky twice in my life, so I made my decision and I elected to live the life of the celibate single mom. Of course, by this time I had Lorna to care for, so I spent the money on building the house up on Old Dominion Drive, established a real home for Lorna and myself (keeping her safe and ready for the day you woke up) and then I went to work at my new lawyering business - which has worked out very well".

Loren relaxed back onto her pillow and took Carolyn's hand, caressing the wedding ring. "Well, thank you for caring for Lorna; I guess that some people, unaware of your history, assume from conversations around 'dead marine, wedding ring and young child' that you are a military widow - which is a good cover for your heartbreak I guess". Carolyn smiled sadly and nodded.

Loren could not believe how much of a change Carolyn had made in her life since the Carolyn Imes which she remembered from Christmas 2002 (and the personal happiness which Carolyn had obviously given up in order to protect, love, nurture and guide Lorna in the first decade of her life).

"So, are you on the PTA circuit, baking cookies, watching Little League and whatever Lorna does? Oh Lord, I have missed so much" lamented Loren.

"Yes, we have a very active social life, based around Lorna, her schools and her activities. She is a fit and healthy ten-year-old and is thriving as a young horse-woman and swimmer. I just have to make sure that she wears plenty of sun-block; there is a slight ginger tint in her hair (which is why people just assume that she is mine, thereby minimising awkward questions) but she also has a couple of freckles on her face. Loren, might I please ask if there is any ginger hair in your family's gene pool?"

Loren thought for a moment, then drew Lorna into a hug before she replied to Carolyn's question. "Err, not amongst Clan Singer for at least five generations, but I know where her colouring may have come from. Lorna, would you mind, please, walking to get the nurse so I can start my lunchtime medication?"

"Sure, mommy". Lorna obediently hopped down from her chair, headed to the door and slipped out into the corridor.

Carolyn waited until the door had closed behind Lorna and then leaned in conspiratorially, eager for the answer. "You don't want her to know?"

"No, at least not until I am fully recovered and back on my feet; I need to think through some things that I am not exactly proud of"; Loren paused, mentally assessing some options before she continued. "Aw what the heck, it's about time that someone knew".

She looked at Carolyn: "It's never good to dredge up matters from a decade back, but I need to share. May I please I give you a metaphorical one-dollar and retain you as my attorney if you please, Carolyn?"

"Sure thing. My pleasure. Consider it done".

"OK, and this goes no further, under attorney-client privilege, for as long as I am still breathing and still above ground - OK?"

Carolyn nodded: "Of course. Madam Client".

Loren chuckled then her face became very serious. "Oh boy, I really got myself into that mess in late summer '02" sighed Loren.

"OK, Sergei was cute in that youthful Russian way (like a borzoi puppy dog) but we never did the deed; you know that Cdr Rabb was always fixated in his little lady Marine when he wasn't saving the distressed women of the world, so he was only ever a potential uncle in the equation and only if Sergei had been the father. But boy, could he obsess!"

Loren smiled, thinking back over the years. "Lindsey was clumsy and not very athletic or imaginative, especially on a full stomach. But Lorna's colouring (together with what I am sure will emerge in due time as a 'Fighting Irish' temperament) are definitely from Declan".

 **Carolyn sat back in her chair, mouth agape. The corner had finally been lifted on a ten-year mystery. What would Rabb have thought?**


	3. Declan

**Original A/N was added 19-01-2018 in Ch1: They are not mine; I am merely taking them out of the DPB box which I discovered in 2017, playing with them and putting them away again. Characters are borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG" - and, far more importantly, the excellent "NCIS" which started as a spin-off; may your following careers blossom.**

 **I refer to my original A/N in Ch1: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? I was also brought up to consider "if you cannot say anything nice, then don't say anything". Mike**

 **To the early reviewers of Ch2 - thank you. You will note that Ch1 review comments had helped to shape Ch2. I intend to continue this protocol!**

 **Hawk:** thank you for the tip that " _there ain't such a thing as ex-military_ " - I have re-written Carolyn's poised posture in Chapter 2 and republished.

Now, on with Chapter 3 - "Declan".

 **333-333-333-333**

 **Saturday, 25th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **11:45hrs EST**

Carolyn's ears had perked up at the piece of juicy gossip which Loren had just released from a ten-plus-year embargo of silence.

"Declan?" she repeated. Loren looked slightly sheepish, but was interrupted at that precise moment by Lorna's return. She took Lorna's hand, squeezed it affectionately and looked at Carolyn. "Carolyn, please come back tomorrow and we'll take this further, _if you don't mind Counsellor_ " (she emphasised the final phrase). "I need your advice - just the two of us". She caressed Lorna's head and asked the young girl: "Tomorrow, Mommy needs to discuss some legal things with Auntie Carolyn and it could get a bit technical; would you mind, darling, bringing one of your painting books so that you can sit with the nurses whilst I have the discussion with Auntie Carolyn tomorrow, please?"

Carolyn looked down, trying to compare this polite 2013 newly-awakened mother, who was carefully setting her child's expectations, with the 2002 driven, closed-off, shrewish, self-centered... (" _oh hang on, maybe she is going to take this chance to be a much better member of humanity - and I should help that evolution by not obsessing and remembering the 'old' Loren Singer_ " Carolyn thought) and Carolyn came up with the only reply possible: "Loren, I will make sure that Lorna has her painting things; we'll come here after church tomorrow and we should get here after about 12 o'clock".

"Thanks; I will then be able to update you on my recovery progress over the next 24 hours". Loren looked settled and satisfied, because she had made up her mind on at least one aspect of her former life. It was time to lift the veil on how her personal life had evolved in the run-up to her swim and Carolyn Imes was the woman to hear that story - and preserve it with the sanctity of attorney-client privilege. Carolyn would willingly accept being "gagged".

Shortly afterwards, Carolyn and Lorna brought the visit to a close and Carolyn headed off with Lorna for their Saturday afternoon visit to the stables for the next riding lesson, leaving the nurse to attend to Loren's medication. At this stage on the first day following a post-coma awakening, the medicines were still being administered mainly via the intravenous drip. The nurse wrote up all the doses administered, then looked at Loren. "You have the rest of the day free and clear Loren, so is there anything you would like us to do for you?"

Loren had already made up her mind for her personal "Day One" objective: "Yes Tracy, how easy would it be for me to have a bath or a shower at some point in the near future if possible please? I don't mind if the answer is ' _not yet_ ', but my skin feels odd".

The nurse smiled: "That is perfectly natural to request and yes, we have the wet-room in the corner. We moved your body regularly during your Long Sleep and so we were entirely successful in avoiding bedsores. Give us a half-hour (because all the other nursing staff are gathering for the lunchtime shift handover briefing) but after that we'll get you hooked up, hoisted out and into the wet-room. So the answer isn't an actual ' _not yet_ ', it's just a case of ' _can you wait please?_ ' so I just need a bit more patience from my patient, please".

Loren smiled at the nurse's play on words and nodded her assent. "Heck, I've waited over ten years, and last time I was in water it was a bit uncontrolled; of course I can wait a while - maybe even a full half-hour if it would help! Now, I guess I need to start reading up on the last ten years of world events; where do I start?"

The nurse turned to the side-table and produced a laptop; "We prepared this for you (our IT team update this laptop every Friday, so it has become a bit of a ritual to deliver the updates just as Lorna and Miss Imes finish painting your nails). This laptop has a summary of the past ten years loaded on it; you will notice that the Internet has spread and is now pervasive; this is Google, the major Internet search engine, and free-form English will normally bring up what you want. The battery is fully-charged, so I shall leave you in peace and I'll check with you (and bring a charger) when we come back for the trip to the shower."

Loren lifted the laptop: "Wow, this is so much lighter than my JAG brick-shaped laptop. I reckon I am going to like 2013".

Tracy looked down at her as Loren adjusted the screen on the laptop: "Well, wait till we introduce you to what is called a smartphone, Loren".

 **33A-33A-33A-33A**

 **Sunday, 26th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **12:35hrs EST**

On Sunday morning, Lorna had awoken with a sense of impending excitement at the prospect of visiting her mommy once more. After breakfast, she and Carolyn had attended the morning service at the local church and then returned to the house to collect the items needed for the visit to Loren. Carolyn slipped a fresh legal pad into her slim briefcase with its shoulder-strap, then guided Lorna out to the car and ensured that she was safely strapped in before firing up the engine.

Arriving at the facility, Carolyn signed them both in and headed up to Loren's room, depositing Lorna at the nurses' station with a small bottle of orange juice to keep her hydrated during her colouring session whilst Carolyn walked down the corridor to Loren's room, ready to start the consultation with Loren.

Carolyn's olfactory senses picked up a delicate floral scent as she walked into the room - a noticeable change from the sterile antiseptic atmosphere which had pervaded Loren's room over most of the past ten years. As she heard Carolyn sniffing the pleasant aroma, Loren looked up from her laptop and smiled, as she pointed to herself: "I used a light body spray after this morning's shower - what do you think, Carolyn?"

"Very light, very pleasant, very feminine - very much the new Loren, I believe" replied Carolyn. "So I see that your mobilisation continues?"

"Yep. Dr Andersen has set some very modest exercises for me to do, later today, whilst I am still in bed" Loren replied. "In line with Dr Andersen's programme, I reckon to do a little more every day - the goal is _'until I get tired or breathless'_ , not until I break something!"

Loren winced as she extended her arm to lay the laptop aside on top of her bedding. "But boy oh boy, I now realise that I have lost muscle mass; from yesterday's comment about long-term space flight, the arriving astronauts on Mars are going to struggle to walk, even in low gravity. In my case, I was glad to be supported in a wheeled sling whilst I was taken to the shower yesterday." She smiled again, reaching out for Carolyn's hand. The two women hugged, then Carolyn took her customary seat, crossed her legs, smoothed down her skirt and pulled the legal pad from her briefcase. She pulled out her faithful family fountain pen and poised, looking inquisitively at Loren over her reading glasses. Loren chuckled: "Wow, schoolmarm Imes rides again". The two women laughed together.

Loren marshalled her thoughts and began. "Carolyn - _Counsellor_ \- I need your advice: I am minded to let sleeping historical dogs lie, because Declan never knew that he was going to become a father. Let me explain, because I value your opinion on this. I was all booked to fly out to Shannon on the very next day after I ended up having my swim, to tell Declan about my pregnancy and discuss with him what he would want to do, but lying here last night I began to seriously doubt if that would, after all these years, still be a sensible course of action. In the intervening ten years he could well have acquired a wife and a whole new family, so I am minded to leave well alone", Loren began.

"Yes, I see your logic. But are you certain that you don't want to at least explore the possibility of letting him know that he has a child? I mean, what if he or she (or you?) needs a kidney transplant in the future?" Carolyn hoped that her attempt at humour would give Loren a counterpoint to her swift " _no-contact_ " intentions regarding Declan. Loren swiftly thought through her response, replaying her debates with herself the previous evening.

"Carolyn, yes I am certain; wait until I have explained the circumstances of my impregnation, then you may see why I have decided to come down on the side of the sound of silence". Loren leaned back with a sense of certainty.

Carolyn finished her note-taking and then, motioning her fingers in a circle, came up with her first real question. "Hang on a moment Loren, back the truck up. All the investigations, around the time of your swim (and before, with Mac and then Tracy Manetti digging into your love-life as far as they could go) had considered a couple of lovers in the frame. Just for my edification, would you mind laying them out?"

Loren stiffened and, for a moment, gazed at Carolyn with the old " _Singer gaze of doom_ ", causing Carolyn to think back over what she had just said. She blushed, looked up at Loren and the two women giggled: "Sorry Loren, that was a really dumb thing to say, my apologies for my poor choice of words. Allow me to re-phrase: please detail your historical love life leading up to your swim".

"OK, in 2001 my love-life was simple (and very satisfying) until I got to Christmas. Lovely Kevin, attentive to a fault, weekends in Boston, plans for a suite at the Willard over Christmas, until his parents summoned him to Hyannis and then 'forgot' to invite me down for the holiday. Then, the lovely ' _unique, one-of-a-kind_ ' bracelet which turned out to be one of three - and I wasn't Patty Sachs or Wendy Pearson. Still, I got to prove that diamonds are a girl's best friend - do you know (or even have any idea) what happened to all my stuff in the move to San Diego? I guess that I shall probably need to buy a complete new wardrobe when I get out of here eventually".

Carolyn nodded: "Yes - and you owe Tracy Manetti a debt of gratitude for tracking your possessions. She was an absolute terrier: she tracked down your apartment in SD from the contact records that you left with Tiner; she intercepted the removals company when the truck was scheduled to deliver to your apartment on Coronado (looks like it was timed to fit with your arrival into SD from Shannon) and she arranged storage (we ended up finding a JAG/NCIS budget for it, so you don't owe anyone any money for storage - it got added to the bill for Ensign Lindsey during his sentence in Leavenworth). All in all, a lot of people have done a lot of work for you Loren, over the years. Mail redirection was a pain at first, but eventually the RLSO got the necessary court orders, so there is a pile of mail awaiting you. Fortunately, so much of people's lives is now online (over the Internet) - but we can cover that later."

Loren looked down at her hospital gown and muttered quietly: "I must thank Cdr Manetti when I get out of here. I'll ask about fashion later". Carolyn looked down at her skirt, sat back in her chair and stretched her legs in their customary gleaming black boots and wiggled her feet to mobilise her ankles as she stretched her arms to shake out the stiffness, then smiled: "Loren I would reckon that half your wardrobe is now back in fashion anyway! So, in any case, to answer your question: yes, your possessions are safe and everything is logged - so what happened after the disappointment of 'Christmas Kevin'?"

Loren frowned with concentration as she summoned, from the dark recesses of her memory, a year which had catastrophically not run to her rigid life plan of becoming the first female JAG. "I dumped Kevin the jerk - formally - over Christmas, so I was free and single at the start of '02, but I had fallen in love with the city of Boston during my relationship with him. Sergei was still around and I had enjoyed chatting to him when we first met in Rabb's apartment, but as I said he was more of a BMF for sport, walks, days out and the occasional drinks. I just liked his youthful sense of humour and his daft Russian jokes - he really did make me smile. But frankly, he had bigger issues to solve with his half-brother - and we'll get on to young Cdr Rabb later; but Sergei was..." she paused before continuing: "...a bit of harmless fun and a light distraction".

Carolyn was beginning to understand the complexity of Loren's 2002 love-life, as the story was emerging from the shadows. "So you fell in love with Boston?" she prompted. "Yes, the city spoke to me during my time there with Kevin so I continued a pattern of visiting one weekend in every month, just to soak up the atmosphere, the oysters and the Samuel Adams beers and the Guinness. In February, I was in an Irish bar and this bright, lively, ginger-haired mountain of a man knocked my drink when he spread his arms to make a point to his friends, apologised, bought me another drink but by then I was already in lust".

Loren paused, leading Carolyn to ask: "Declan?"

Loren nodded. "God, he had such lovely green eyes - and the rest of him got my vote as well! He ran a software company in Galway (about an hour's drive north of Shannon Airport on the west coast of Ireland) so he was comfortable amongst the Irish diaspora around Boston where he also had a satellite office. He invited me to his company's celebrations of St Patrick's Day and we just clicked. We both knew it was a bit of harmless fun and we both had absolutely no long-term intentions or plans, but somehow he got under my skin and then he fell under my spell. And I fell - hard!"

Carolyn stopped writing and looked up: "OK, I can guess where this is going and I'll guess that the story didn't remain as 'harmless and platonic', did it? But what about Lindsey?"

"Hmm, Teddy was another embarrassment from the JAG Christmas service with Chaplain Turner in 2001 - I must be honest and say that he was useful for networking and the man actually had real stamina (especially after a good meal, which is counter-intuitive!) - he must have worn out his wife regularly! So he and I fell into a routine of dinner every Wednesday from May of '02 until I deployed to the Seahawk, then things got massively complicated with Teddy around the Christmas of 2002 after I had returned to land-based duties. But I am getting ahead of myself."

"So, coming back to Declan?" enquired Carolyn.

Loren continued: "Yep. With American Airlines and Aer Lingus in the OneWorld airline alliance, he could get to Dulles as easily as Boston, so we started dating more regularly, as we got more serious in the second quarter of '02. He had even broached the subject of me moving to Ireland (perhaps a posting to the US Embassy in Dublin) but I always felt that such a move would side-track my career".

Carolyn smiled to herself - the old ambitious and ruthless spirit of Loren Singer had _really_ been a driving force in this woman's life before she took her unscheduled swim in the Potomac. She returned to her questioning. "And then you got pregnant before shipping out to the cruise to replace Bud Roberts at short notice".

"Yeah - unplanned obviously - a split condom during a particularly active weekend in Boston around the start of August. Declan's company had closed a massive deal, so naturally he invited me to celebrate - all weekend long! And boy, did we celebrate: I actually got to despise the taste of champagne that weekend. It wasn't until some weeks later that I remembered a drunken comment about a split condom as he staggered back into bed after visiting the bathroom during the night. By the time I realised I was expecting, I had been posted to replace Roberts after he went dancing in that darn minefield. By then, I had amicably wound down the Declan relationship before deploying (I was potentially going to be away for a while and we both wanted to retain good happy memories of our time together - which is why I now remember that he gave me the ring) and I found myself on the Seahawk, unsteady on my legs, with cravings for Nutty Butty and eventually putting on unexpected weight". She paused and looked across at Carolyn: "Carolyn, are you sure that you are ok with me talking about pregnancy and children?"

Carolyn played briefly with her "wedding" ring, then looked up at Loren with eyes that sparkled with unshed tears: "Yes Loren, I've got past that painful episode and I have quite a thick skin (it comes from being a good lawyer), so please carry on".

"So I came back ashore from the 'Seahawk' cruise without the skipper calling for my head, finding myself sitting on the COD alongside the Hotshot Flyboy: he was obsessing as always about my baby's parentage, but I eventually had to tell him that it wasn't Sergei - simply just to shut him up. For all his charm, that man really did nothing for me! Sitting on the COD, just before we were blasted off the deck, I made a snap decision to get an abortion once I was back on dry land; so I told him exactly that. He didn't like it, but I was in all sorts of turmoil when I got back to Falls Church. In a way, I should thank Harriet Sims-Roberts for turning my plans around and making me decide to keep 'The Bump'; you know she had a still-birth with her little Sarah in the November of '01, don't you?"

Carolyn nodded and Loren continued. "So I decided to go to the Admiral at the start of the New Year and take formal maternity leave before I started travelling, with the aim of heading back eventually to San Diego which is why I set up the apartment rental in Coronado and started packing up the DC apartment."

"Anyway, there I was, pregnant over Christmas, looking at a due delivery date some time in May of '03, when Lindsey popped up at my apartment door. He had heard through the Navy grapevine that I was back ashore and he wanted to continue our little 'Wednesday side-arrangement'. The poor deluded fool took one look at me and thought it was his, so I thought ' _what the heck, he can help establish a college fund for The Bump'_. He had told me that his wife had inherited a legacy, so neither of them would miss five grand."

Loren paused and looked guiltily at Carolyn: "You can see that I was just *so* cut out for motherhood! Anyway, I agreed to meet him the afternoon before I flew out. Then Saint Rabb stuck his oar in (repeatedly) and I ended up agreeing to meeting him at Benzingers". She paused and shivered. "I was all set to fly to Shannon the next day, drive up to Galway and give Declan the news in person - I felt that he deserved that personal visit, at least".

She looked up, catching Carolyn's eyes: "But then I went out to meet Lindsey and he just freaked for no reason that I can remember (although the bump on my head may have wiped that memory) and he lashed out. To this day, I cannot understand my good fortune in being lucky enough to be spotted and rescued. It was a miracle how anyone could have happened to see me in the river, let alone rescue me, after I was dumped off the bridge into that river".

She shivered, and pulled her blanket around her shoulders. "God, I am just so lucky to be here! I could just have easily been washed downstream and underneath something in all the turbulent water flow, with my unborn baby. I hesitate to think about what she would have missed out on". She mopped her glistening eyes with a tissue and blew out a breath which she had been unconsciously holding in. This was the first time, *ever*, that she had told anyone about her tangled love life of 2002-2003 - for that reason, she felt energised and relieved - and grateful for her escape from what could, so easily, have become her watery tomb.

Carolyn sat back in her chair and reviewed her notes as she flexed her hand to eliminate the stiffness which had built up once more as she wrote, balancing her legal pad on her knee. This disclosure from Loren explained three mysteries and laid to rest a fistful of conspiracy theories (not to mention a couple of betting pools that had been set up amongst the staff in JAG at Falls Church; money which had been donated into a college fund for Lorna when she was born in the May of 2003).

Just for a moment, Carolyn regretted that her hands were (metaphorically) tied by attorney-client privilege. The Falls Church scuttlebutt machine would have choked on all this juicy gossip, were it ever to be let out of captivity!

"OK Loren, let's leave it there for today. Tomorrow is Memorial Day and - as you can guess - I'll be up in Arlington to honour the fallen (Lorna usually accompanies me when I visit Pete and his Mom) so it is pretty unlikely that we'll drop by. I normally wrap myself in black and I don't want to spook you by turning up looking like Dracula's daughter. As part of my ' _spiritual military widow_ ' obligation, I also go to Pete's grave in Arlington on several other days through the year, including birthdays, funeral anniversaries and (usually) Christmas Eve in daylight. Regardless of tomorrow, I shall definitely be back in here during Tuesday, probably at the end of the day, because I know that the guys and gals from Bethesda will be here to see the newly-arisen Loren."

"Sounds like a plan, Counsellor" replied Loren, resting back onto her pillow. "Would you mind, please, bringing Lorna in for a chat and a hug, please?"

"No problems, partner; I shall go and get her now". Carolyn stood up and packed her briefcase, before straightening her clothing and walking out to get retrieve Lorna from the nurses' station, in preparation for bringing her into the room.

Loren realised just what a debt of gratitude she owed to this lovely, loyal, dedicated woman, who had, unbidden, taken on the role of " _in loco parentis_ " whilst dealing with the aftermath of the worst event that could befall any woman who was involved with a serving military man. She had to find some way to mark her deep appreciation of the time and love and thought and effort and (well, dammit) _parenthood_ which Carolyn had lavished on the growing Lorna over the decade. But was it fair for such a lovely woman to close herself off from the possibility of a future romance? Ten years was a long time for Carolyn to grieve.

Loren was forming a view that Carolyn might be over-compensating for her grief by hiding away from the world - but thank heavens that she had taken Lorna under her wing in the meantime. " _Can I even think of ever repaying Carolyn adequately_?" she wondered as she drifted off into a brief cat-nap after the cathartic exhaustion of telling the tangled story of "The Loves of Loren".

All too soon, her cat-nap was disturbed as Lorna bounded into the room, for what was fast becoming the customary hugs and hand-clasps. The picture which Lorna had created today was of a striking Arabian horse, saddled and harnessed ready to ride. The three women chatted for a further half-hour, lining up plans for the coming week which would bring them all together, once Carolyn's stressful Memorial Day activities were out of the way.

Loren was beginning to realise the love and affection, for her, which Carolyn had steadily inculcated into her daughter as Lorna had grown from infancy with her real-life mother in a coma. All too soon, the visit drew to a close and she waved goodbye to Lorna and Carolyn. The door clicked shut as the sound of Carolyn's heels faded down the corridor. Loren realised that she was counting the cadence of Carolyn's departing footsteps and resolved to request a television to break the oppressive silence in her hospital room, as she picked up her laptop once more.

Loren was beginning to realise that she could easily become "institutionalised" in this care facility - listening for particular footsteps, waiting for meal times, waking up on cue - but she was determined to take all these items and use them to motivate herself and achieve the best rehab possible in as short a time as possible. She wanted to hold her daughter and then get to feel the fresh air on her face as she stood alongside the paddock fence and watched her daughter ride - alongside Carolyn, of course. Loren was already determined to ensure that the ginger-haired attorney would continue to have a vital role in Lorna's life, because Andersen's comment about strokes in post-coma survivors had struck home - Loren realised that she might not make "old bones" if her health were to take a subsequent nose-dive. Loren had no desire to fade away ever again from her lovely daughter, so some form of stand-in "Living Will" would be an urgent item on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting with Carolyn. For now, she could lean back and rest, grateful for the support that she was experiencing.

"Wow, I am a lucky woman" she pondered. She reached up and switched the overhead lamp to its "dusk" setting. She thought back over the fortunate events which had befallen her as she drifted off to sleep. Monday would soon dawn, bringing with it the last quiet day before the inquisitive research teams from across the USA would start to arrive.

 **Loren was painfully aware (based on her 2002 "leaving gathering" in the JAG bull-pen when she had headed out to the Seahawk, just before she bumped into Sergei in the JAG lobby on her way out of the building) that most of her erstwhile colleagues at JAG really couldn't have cared less about her. Hell, Lindsey could have tried to push her head back under the water, given half a chance! But it did sound as though Tracy Manetti was worth thanking, for her assistance. Loren offered up a quick prayer to the spirit of Carolyn's "Marine Pete" as she dozed once more before falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.**

 **End Ch 3 - "Declan";**


	4. Arlington: Memorial Day 2013

**Chapter 4: "Arlington - Memorial Day"**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the " _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_ " disclaimer. To this, I now add " _apart_** ** _from any character_** ** _created by myself_ ".** **Summary** **: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike**

Now, on with on with Chapter 4 - "Arlington, Memorial Day". Loren prepares for the arrival of NASA and the Mars team. Carolyn honours her fallen Marine and reflects upon her loss.

I wanted to explore a little more of Carolyn's back-story, her grief and its impact on aspects of her behaviour, plus her motivation, then to set up for a future part of this adventure. Accordingly, please bear with me as we tour the back roads in the company of Carolyn Imes for a while, before Loren's hard work begins. Mike

 **444-444-444-444**

 **Start Ch 4 - Arlington - Memorial Day 2013**

 **Sunday, 26th May 2013**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **23:45hrs EST**

On the Sunday evening, relaxing with hot chocolate and a couple of her favourite caramel-filled cookies, Lorna had questioned Carolyn about Memorial Day, what it stood for, and what Carolyn's particular interest was in the specific grave which they would be visiting at Arlington the following day. Lorna already knew that this weekend was important to Carolyn, from previous years.

Now that Lorna was ten years old, Carolyn was able to respond to questions which had occurred to her ward in school during the preceding week. The school had, during the previous week, run a series of events for all classes and a British TV crew had been onsite to film some of the sessions. The British crew were making a documentary about history education in the USA school system and Lorna's school was one of the premier schools in the DC area. Her colouring had caught the eye of the female producer, so British audiences would be seeing several shots of a bright, alert and intelligent young American citizen as she and her class discussed this important part of the national traditions. It was planned that the British documentary would be broadcast around November 11th - the British "Armistice Day" (known more-recently in the UK as "Remembrance Sunday") which marked the moment, at 11AM on 11th November 1918, when the First World War (which Britain had gone into, in 1914, believing it to be " _The Great War_ " or " _The war to end all wars_ ") formally ended hostilities. The documentary would compare and contrast the American and British approaches to commemorating loss and the themes of "Remembrance".

With each passing year, Carolyn had opened up slightly more about Pete, whilst explaining to her ten-year-old ward how Memorial Day had come to occupy such a special place in the fabric of the USA (and how, sadly, it had assumed increasing prominence since 2001 when the USA had announced the "War on Terror" following the surprise attack on that sunny Tuesday morning in September). Lorna had, some years before, begun to demonstrate the sharp intellect and enquiring mind which she had evidently inherited from her mother. Her questions were incisive and Carolyn enjoyed the intellectual challenge of answering Lorna's questions. She was proud of her country and was always keen to extend and pass on her knowledge to the next generation.

With questions answered, Lorna had settled down to sleep on the Sunday evening, safely wrapped in her bedding and with her favourite stuffed tiger on the pillow alongside her (her other stuffed toys had, progressively, been retired to charity donations as she had grown older). Carolyn completed her nightly patrol around the inside of the house, checking all window and door locks, setting the alarm zones and finally settling with a book and a small glass of bourbon, by the fireplace in the study with Pete's photograph and a stack of the letters which he had written to her from his deployment. She had established a ritual tradition of "bourbon and letters" on the night before Memorial Day as she began her annual commemoration of "her" Marine.

In the run-up to midnight, Carolyn took out the final two letters. Carolyn took particular comfort from Pete's final two letters, which had eventually arrived together on the day after his funeral (although Carolyn had been in hospital at that point following her miscarriage) from the remote location where he had been based. He had written about how he was looking forward to being with her and supporting her through the final months of their unplanned pregnancy and they had begun to kick around ideas for the sort of home they would be buying, its possible location and how he wished Carolyn well as she began adjusting her working pattern to accommodate her unexpected transition into motherhood. All were ideas which were snuffed out by the IED.

Pete's words of love leapt from the pages and Carolyn had established her little tradition of timing the reading of his last two letters up to the stroke of midnight on the Sunday night which fed into the Monday of Memorial Day itself. She raised the glass to Pete's memory and drained it, folded up and re-filed all the letters in the special drawer of her working desk and then she closed the study door and wandered, alone as always, off to bed. It was just one more quiet vignette of an American woman mourning the loss of her man.

As always, Carolyn slept peacefully; the daemons of late 2003 were long gone. Tomorrow, a day of remembrance lay ahead. Plus, after ten years in the Twilight Zone, Loren had surfaced from _The Long Sleep_. This was good news for the middle of 2013 and she had high hopes for the rest of the year.

There were several positive reasons to remember this weekend in the future, and also to look beyond 2013 with an even more positive outlook. In her sleep, Carolyn smiled unconsciously. What else lay ahead for her?

 **Monday, 27th May 2013 - Memorial Day**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **09:45hrs EST**

Lorna had awoken later than usual on the Monday morning, because the public holiday meant that she would not be attending school that day. All of her clothes had been laid out, in consultation with Auntie Carolyn, the night before. Wearing her favourite old sweatshirt (which she wore around the house before getting dressed into formal clothes for trips out of the home), Lorna finished her breakfast and, leaving the dishes on the draining board alongside the kitchen sink, padded out of the kitchen in search of her aunt. The sound of a softly-playing radio drew her to the utility room behind the three-car garage, where she located her aunt.

Carolyn sat in the rocking chair alongside the washing machine, wearing a long brown house-coat over her black knee-length skirt as she polished one of a pair of knee-length boots. Her outfit for the day (a smart black double-breasted blazer which she would be wearing over her simple black cashmere sweater) hung on the coathooks behind. The house-coat's sleeves bore witness to Carolyn's fastidiousness with the polish on earlier occasions. Carolyn finished off the gleaming leather with a flick of a polishing cloth then removed her hand, zipped up the boot and fitted a boot-tree into the boot, placed it alongside her chair, then started on the other half of the pair.

Lorna frowned as she studied her aunt's face, which was pinched with concentration at the simple task of polishing: "Auntie Carolyn, remind me what you said about polish and respect please". Carolyn put down the boot, set aside the polish brush and cloth, then turned to give Lorna her full attention.

"Certainly Lorna - and maybe it is about time we bought you some proper leather shoes to wear to church on Sundays, so that you can learn to appreciate and care for your footwear. OK, it goes back to my time in the military. We were taught that your appearance reflects the pride that you have in your service, and your country reflects its pride in you and the uniform which it provides for you to wear. We could obviously 'cheat' with patent leather shoes for formal events, but polishing is more intimate. So pride and professionalism go together with polish. Some people may find it odd, but you can often tell a former military lady - or man, of course - by the polish on her or his shoes as well as their posture. So for me, since leaving the military I have always endeavoured to keep a shine on whatever footwear I am wearing - obviously not my trainers, of course! As you know, I always wear something black in honour of Pete, so in the autumn and winter (and also in the chilly spring here in McLean) the sensible approach is to keep my legs warm at the same time. Today - Memorial Day - I always make an extra-extra special effort with the polishing of whatever I am wearing on my feet (that's just the way I am); it is something that I consider very important as I honour Pete's memory. As far as I am concerned, today I am ' _on parade_ ' for my beloved Marine".

She smiled at Lorna and continued: "Plus I was *so* relieved to throw away my last set of Navy-pattern military pumps - they just didn't fit my feet comfortably, so I'm very happy to invest more in comfortable shoes. Quite a few of my former female colleagues at JAG made the same comment at one time or another, so I know it wasn't just me - I remember that Mac had quite a shoe collection."

With a polishing glove on her hand, she picked up the completed boot with a duster and idly wafted the duster over the already-gleaming black leather: "To me, I honour Pete's memory as I walk to his graveside - it's just a part of who I am. Also, as I sit here polishing on weekday evenings I can relax, reflect on the day and I can occasionally think back and remember my five wonderful months with Pete before he was cruelly taken away from me".

Carolyn paused; she was proud that, after nearly ten years, she could now talk about Pete without weeping openly. Or rather, she usually could - Loren's unexpected comment yesterday regarding loss had thrown her off-balance - it had been a long time since she had last run from a room in tears.

She continued her explanation: "Also Lorna, in my line of business, appearance is important. When you meet someone for the first time - perhaps a future client for example - as they are shaking hands with you they will be checking you out from the crown of your head to the tips of your heels". She smiled at Lorna; "It is just the same for men and women - but women can be a little more catty with their examination - remember that worn-down heel tips are a big no-no so be careful when you drive a car in future years - don't wear down the backs of your shoes when driving!"

Carolyn paused and looked at Lorna. "Would you like to try a bit of polishing? We have time and I'll take over after a bit. Just work on the toe-cap and I shall do the rest".

Lorna looked at her, with a wisdom beyond her ten years. She had always considered Auntie Carolyn's apparent obsession with polishing to be just a little odd, but Carolyn's explanation had made sense to her, now that she was a little older. She always appreciated the time which Auntie Carolyn took in explaining things. In school during the previous week, in preparation for Memorial Day, the class teacher had led a discussion on memorial, commemoration and sacrifice. Lorna remembered one phrase: " _Grief affects different people in different ways_ ". This year, like never before, she had understood her aunt's evening ritual. Once it had been explained, Lorna once more gave thanks that her Auntie Carolyn was passing on life skills whilst her mommy wasn't available to do the job.

She looked into her aunt's eyes. "I really like that idea, Auntie Carolyn. Do you think that I could learn how to polish properly so that I can look good from head to toe please?". Carolyn unzipped the other boot and gave Lorna a soft cloth glove to wear as she picked up the leather item. "OK, to get a really good shine, we need to build up a paste of polish on the leather to try and get it mirror-smooth. Remember, we can practice on your dressage outfit for the stables. So first dip the cloth into that pot of water then pick up some of the cream polish..."

So it was that the military polishing skill began its transfer into the following generation.

 **Monday, 27th May 2013 - Memorial Day**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **10:55hrs EST**

Half an hour later, Carolyn and Lorna headed out, fully dressed and ready to visit the Cemetery at Arlington. Carolyn's "mourning" outfit was completed with a long black woollen coat, black leather gloves and a black woollen scarf around her throat; she was ready for her visit to the hallowed ground where her Marine lay in perpetuity, and so she had kept her head bare in his honour.

Carolyn was wheeling a suitcase with some clothes which she would be taking to Loren at the next visit. They walked out through the internal door into the garage to get into the car. Carolyn loaded the suitcase into the trunk and then she drove out onto Old Dominion Drive, the garage door closing automatically behind her departing vehicle. After the early-morning partial cloud cover, the temperature had settled around 71F (22'C) but the cloud cover was moving in on the fresh southerly breeze. Carolyn didn't bother putting on her sunglasses as she drove south towards the Metro station.

The drive south and across to East Falls Church Metro station was quickly accomplished, avoiding the Dulles Toll Road by driving down Balls Hill Road and Great Falls Street, Lincoln Avenue and Fairfax Drive. She made quick progress through the light holiday traffic. Carolyn avoided the huge DC Metro complex at West Falls Church, but she looked forward to the planned opening of the Silver Line extension to Tysons Corner, scheduled for 2014 (if the planners ever actually delivered on time!) and she parked in the larger parking lot on the Lee Highway side of the station. The $2.00 parking fee was good value in Carolyn's view.

Carolyn and Lorna often parked here when they were going out to cycle down the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a path which had been established along the old railroad grade which headed west from Falls Church, out through Vienna and lovely woodland scenery beyond the Beltway through Herndon and past Leesburg to the trailhead in Purcellville. The cycling exercise kept Carolyn fit, helped clear the hospital smell from her lungs and encouraged Lorna, similarly, to stay fit and to develop a love of the great outdoors, starting from "Mile 5" at East Falls Church. On more than one occasion - as part of a mixed group of all ages - they had completed the entire 45-mile ride from Shirlington to Purcellville to enjoy a well-deserved lunch at the cyclist-friendly Monk's Grill. Carolyn had been quite surprised at how quickly her calf muscles had recovered from the longest ride, whist Lorna had breezed through the experience with a big smile on her face. With transport laid on for those who wished an easier return journey, Carolyn had then turned around and completed her 90-mile round-trip with a major sense of achievement, cycling back eastwards with several other parents and older children whilst some parents stayed behind to supervise and transport the younger children, together with those cyclists who had admitted defeat on reaching Purcellville.

The thought of that enjoyable cycle ride comforted her as she looked across at the W&OD Trail whilst awaiting the Metro train for the journey to Arlington and her more serious duty on this Monday morning.

The train trip inbound via Rosslyn (where they swapped to the Blue Line for the one-stop trip down to Arlington) was part of her continuing plan of getting Lorna accustomed to using public transport. She wanted Lorna to be as independent and confident as possible when she was outside the home, just in case Loren was released from the care facility in a less-than-perfect state after her rehab. At the back of her mind was the hope of a long cycle ride westwards on the old trail one day in the future, following Lorna and her mother as all three women cycled along the trail.

Walking out of the Metro station at Arlington, Carolyn took Lorna's hand and they marched in step towards the cemetery gates.

Carolyn realised that, in this tenth year, she was beginning to look forward a little more than she was looking backwards into the past. Certainly, Loren's resurrection gave a big impetus to " _look forward with hope_ ". Perhaps Pete was trying to give her a gentle hint.

 **Monday, 27th May 2013 - Memorial Day**

 **Arlington National Memorial Cemetery**

 **Arlington, Virginia, 22211**

 **13:15hrs EST**

Carolyn and Lorna had travelled to Arlington Cemetery station on the Blue Line of the DC metro system and had walked up to the cemetery entrance. After watching President Obama from afar as he led the nation's tributes to the Fallen (and observed the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in his speech), the two keepers of Pete's legacy had walked slowly toward his grave marker. The 3rd US Infantry Regiment ("the Old Guard") had decorated the headstones with the American flag during the "flags in" ceremony on the preceding Thursday. The cemetery gleamed in the late May sunshine and the small flags fluttered proudly in front of each headstone, which commemorated a fallen hero or a former serving person who qualified to be buried in Arlington.

Recalling her earlier discussion with Lorna, Carolyn realised that she no longer felt alone, as she arrived at Pete's grave amongst a large number of similarly-attired widows and widowers who were heading into the same section of the cemetery (reflecting the heavy toll of US service personnel around the time of Pete's death). Arriving at Pete's grave, Carolyn looked at the headstone, nudged a stray leaf off the grave plot with the toe of her boot, then lowered herself on bended knee to rest her forehead on the top of the headstone.

Carolyn took off her black leather gloves and touched the underside of her "wedding" ring on the top of the headstone. "Hello darling; yes it's me again, but this time with some real good news. The woman whom you pulled out of the Potomac back in '03 - Loren Singer - finally woke up on Friday after ten years in a coma. You did good there, my wonderful Marine and I love you and am so proud of you."

She kissed the top of the headstone, leaving an imprint of her lips in coral pink, which had been the favourite shade that Pete liked to see her wearing. She then placed a small pebble on top of the headstone, following the Jewish tradition of leaving a stone to mark a visit to a grave.

The coming autumn would mark the 10th anniversary of Pete's interment (and the seventh year since his mother's ashes had arrived to accompany him through eternity) so Carolyn was determined that Lorna, in the tenth year of her life, would understand the small commitment of time which was to be requested of her in future years. She looked across to the young girl, whose eyes were level with hers as she knelt at Pete's graveside.

"Now Lorna, I would be much obliged if, in future years and especially after I have passed (or am no longer fit or able to get here), you would kindly visit Pete's headstone on Memorial Day. It would be nice if you could also fit in his birthday, my birthday, his interment date and the date of his mom's death. If you move away, then please try to visit at least once per year if possible. I'd also ask, should you have children in due course, to pass the request on through the generations who are yet to come, please?"

"Sure thing, Auntie Carolyn; I guess it would be really cool if Mommy was well enough, one day, to come here with us and pay her respects to the man who rescued her from the waters".

"Yes, that would be wonderful Lorna; and maybe that might start to be possible, after Friday's awakening; I sure hope so". Carolyn nodded once more to the headstone and then stood up, straightening her knees and brushing a stray twig from her long black coat. Virginia was finally warming up as the planet swung through Spring towards Summer, but she was still grateful for the layers of clothing which stood between her and the outside air. Pulling her gloves back on, she placed her hand upon the headstone in one final farewell caress. As they returned to the roadway, she turned to Lorna with a smile and produced a small wrapped gift from her pocket.

"Lorna, this gift is for you; I would like you to wear it whenever you visit Arlington". Lorna thanked her and unwrapped the gift. A small USA flag lapel pin was revealed. Carolyn knelt down and pinned the flag to the collar of Lorna's coat. The two of them hugged, then Carolyn smiled and moved on to happier thoughts.

"OK, hot chocolate next and then shall we off to see mommy at McLean or head home?" she asked. Lorna nodded enthusiastically then relied with a one-word answer: "Chocolate and Mommy please, Auntie Carolyn". Carolyn was pleased that she had remembered to put the suitcase of clothes for Loren into the car before they had set off from Old Dominion Drive. They headed off towards the DC metro station. In line with the growing "green" agenda within the USA, Carolyn was trying to bring Lorna up in a "sustainable" way - using public transport where possible in addition to the recycling tasks within the neighbourhood, cycling where safe. They would, however, be driving to the care facility which housed Loren later in the afternoon.

They arrived at the care facility just before 17:30hrs (5:30PM).

 **Monday, 27th May 2013 - Memorial Day**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **17:25hrs EST**

Loren was resting after some self-inspired exercises which she could undertake whilst lying almost on her bed - lifting the laptop ten times in the left hand, then ten times in the right. Then with arms extended (then rest!). The speed with which tension in her forearms and biceps had set in was a sharp reminder of how far she had to travel before she could even hope to achieve the goal of "walking out of here", let alone starting to run. She remembered from the "JAG-a-Thon" in late 2001 that her legs had eventually carried her around the course in a kind of quick-jog, so she had hope of being able to run again at some point in the future. She hoped that tomorrow's discussion with "The Martians" from NASA and ESA would be informative for her as well as useful to them.

She gave her aching arms a rest and started on leg-raises, just simply raising each leg five times in turn, before gently lowering the leg slowly back onto the bed to maximise the strain on the supporting muscles. She was trying some half-remembered leg strengthening exercises from her school days in Ohio - before she had realised that she was too sarcastic and self-confident to become a cheer-leader. The abdomen-strengthening "crunchies" would be risked at a later date, she had decided - she needed to check with a physical therapy expert before she started a wider and more-vigorous programme of exercise. She had tentatively tried to bend her body, but stopped when she felt a very slight twinge from the area around her caesarean scar.

Every half-hour, on the hour and on the half-hour, she ran through the cycle of exercise. She then rested, using the laptop as she was re-acquainting herself with ten years of what, for her, had been "future" but was now "history" (yet represented momentous times for those who had lived through those years). She was particularly interested in an historical treatment of the two Presidential campaigns which had been run by Barack Obama. Reading the text of his " _yes we can_ " speeches from '08, she frowned in concentration as she read the words on the screen in front of her; she was realising that she might need reading glasses - and soon. "Oh my lord, middle age beckons!" she muttered to herself just before the door opened.

Carolyn had wrong-footed Loren's sharp hearing - the low-heeled boots made little sound as she walked into room 1013 with Lorna. Her wheeled suitcase also rolled along silently. Loren looked up in surprise from her laptop at the unexpected opening of the door, which signalled the visitation, but she immediately smiled a warm greeting to her visitors and called out the different footwear: "Hey cowgirl, left your horse behind?". Carolyn looked down and smiled, then bent over the bed to kiss Loren's cheek, with Lorna a half-pace behind.

Carolyn removed her scarf and coat, to display the black blazer, cashmere sweater and stylish long woollen skirt in black, then sat down and smoothed the creases out of her skirt. She had planned to maintain the funereal outfit throughout the day when she dressed that morning, honouring the commitment which she had made, long ago, to her fallen Marine. Loren could appreciate Carolyn's joke yesterday about dressing up in black like "Dracula's daughter". "Hi Loren, good to see you up. How's the exercising going today?"

Loren put her laptop aside and began her report on how well her body was holding up after the initial exercise attempts. "Well, my toes all work and my ankles flex with very little stiffness; the knees bend and the hips are mobile. My fingers, wrists and elbows are OK, but there is a mismatch in the shoulders - I obviously broke this one in the river, so physical therapy is needed to get it fully moving after the Long Sleep. The wrist which I broke is also slightly weak, but all of that can be improved. I will be starting with exercises on my legs, with gentle weight-lifting for my arms, but then I will eventually graduate to needing a walking frame for some time under the guidance of the physical therapy team".

She paused before continuing her accounting of her physical state. "My big issue is muscle tone (or, more accurately, the lack of it!). People have introduced me to a new word - ' _deficit_ '. So far, I can feel the improvement over yesterday, but I need to re-learn some patience, I am told. After the Navy and NASA visit with me tomorrow, I am slated for walking therapy on Wednesday - so anything could happen. Realistically, this could take until Christmas".

Carolyn avoided retelling the old British joke, based upon the original (and massively naïve) expectation in 1914 that 'The Great War' would be " _over by Christmas_ ". British cynics always referred to that tragic miscalculation, when someone suggested the completion date of something, with the cynical response of " _which Christmas?_ ".

Carolyn also realised that Loren was clearly keen to extract the most benefit from her PT schedule - however long it might actually take to get her to the point where she could fulfill Dr Andersen's goal and " _walk out of the facility unaided_ ". Carolyn knew that she would support her friend in any way that she could, but decided that she would keep the long-term idea of cycling in the countryside to herself for now.

Lorna's ears had perked up at the sound of the word "exercise". "Mommy, could I join in with your exercises some time occasionally, please?" she enquired.

Loren looked at her and replied, with a smile: "Sure kiddo, I shall make a specific request to the Physical Therapy team tomorrow after NASA and the Martians have visited. I have been thinking about the PT schedules and I would like to speak with both you and Auntie Carolyn - because I think that it might be better if we shifted your visits from the morning towards the end of the day so that I may concentrate on getting fit. However, I obviously need your consent and your agreement to this schedule change. What would you think about that idea - coming here to visit mommy in the evenings - for Mondays through Fridays from now onwards?" She raised a quizzical eyebrow at Carolyn, who thought briefly then nodded enthusiastically as she answered Loren's question whist Lorna was still considering how to phrase her reply.

Carolyn quickly realised the benefits of visiting later in the day. "Actually Loren that would be sensible; I can concentrate on getting Lorna out to school on time in the mornings (my workload in the practice is growing, so an early start into my office benefits me directly) and we can schedule the late afternoon or evening visits around her after-school activities or homework. In fact, thinking about this, as Lorna moves up through the school this might make life easier for everyone, as well as facilitating your recovery. The only problem which I can foresee is making sure that we discuss in advance when Lorna has her after-school activities - but if we discuss the coming week's schedule every Sunday when we visit (and leave a copy here in your room) then everyone will know what is going on. I'd even suggest that we think of missing a visit if school is particularly intense, but let us keep the discussion going week-by-week".

Loren looked at Lorna for agreement, then she nodded gratefully: "Thank you, Lorna, because that will let me rest after what I suspect are going to be pretty-gruelling exercise schedules during each working day before you visit me in the evenings" she added, then turned to look at Carolyn. "Thanks Carolyn, that would make life easier for me - I can ask for a second flip-chart stand to be provided over there in the corner, so we can track schedules and events".

Lorna's eyes popped wide. "Wow, are we meeting real Martians?" she gasped. Loren smiled and shook her head. "No darling, it is just a figure of speech - and anyway you will be in school, so that Mommy can concentrate on getting well and fit and healthy and out of here". Loren paused. She realised that she could actually now consider getting *out* of this institution at some point in the future. She ruffled Lorna's hair affectionately. "Because she had been asleep for so long, Mommy will be helping NASA as they try to develop ways to withstand the inevitable muscle loss that comes with flying all the way to Mars and flying all the way back - a journey which can take a year each way".

Lorna nodded her acceptance and settled in the armchair, picking up a small book to read. Carolyn moved in closer for a chat. She opened the small suitcase which she had brought with her, to reveal two sets of sweatshirts and jogging trousers, one set in red and one set in Navy. "I don't know if you are ready to shed the hospital gown, but when you do, these may suit. I haven't brought trainers or socks because I reckon that the PT team will have their own ideas on what you will need as you regain your sea-legs".

"Thanks Carolyn; I look forward to wearing those some day soon. Thank you for your consideration". Loren laid the clothes back into the suitcase and took Carolyn's hand, caressing the woman's "wedding" ring. She knew that, today of all days, Carolyn would be struggling with memories of loss. Yet, as she looked into the ginger-haired woman's eyes, Loren could sense a gathering feeling of peace and acceptance; perhaps her own return to life had given Carolyn a more-positive outlook for this Memorial Day weekend.

"Well counsellor, how did *your* day go?" enquired Loren, keen to let Carolyn talk and keen to hear about Carolyn's day at Arlington. Carolyn related the day's itinerary, the events inside the cemetery and also mentioned her hopes that, one day in the future, the three women might visit Arlington together and (deciding to mention her long-term idea) also cycle out into the countryside once Loren's rehabilitation was further advanced. She then turned to the subject of visiting Pete's grave.

"Well Loren, every year it gets just a bit easier. This year, although we didn't plan it, I was just one amongst a horde of black-coated family members visiting The Fallen. In a major way, it was very comforting for me and reminded me that Pete is not alone up there. I still remember his touch and his laugh. He made me feel special every time we met and especially each time we made love".

She paused, then looked at Loren. "Am I being unreasonable in avoiding relationships?" she asked.

Loren took Carolyn's hand again, once more caressing the "wedding" ring to which Carolyn obviously attached so much significance. "Well, I appreciate your trust in asking me a question which goes so deep into your personality. I guess that there are stages of grief. What I *would* say, without making you feel uncomfortable, is that man and woman were not put on this earth to be alone. You are doing an incredible job as "the celibate single mom" (as you described yourself yesterday in here) for Lorna, so in my newly-awakened, optimistic state, I would advise you to ' _never say never_ ' as a principle to living your life - it would be a loss to the men of this world, especially whilst I am temporarily unavailable to distract any of them!"

The two women's laughter echoed around the room, disturbing Lorna who looked up from her reading and smiled.

Loren lay back to rest - her stomach muscles had begun to tense up as she had held herself sitting up to speak with Carolyn and the laughter, whilst welcome, hadn't helped her muscles. It was yet another reminder, in practical terms, of the journey to full fitness which still lay ahead of her. Yet she was determined to regain her fitness, and looked forward to joining Carolyn and Lorna on the cycle trail. Every idea about "getting out" had merit and meaning to her now that she was awake - and alive.

Carolyn nodded her appreciation, and the two women sat in companionable silence as they watched Lorna reading quietly to herself. Lorna looked up and realised her good fortune - to be looked after, and loved, by a wonderful aunt as well as now getting to know her recently-awakened mother, with whom she now needed to build a new relationship after ten years of exclusively being supported and "parented" by her Auntie Carolyn.

Carolyn and Lorna checked to see whether Loren needed anything else brought in tomorrow. They then agreed that Tuesday's visit would be in the evening (to start the new default schedule of evening visits by Lorna and Carolyn). They bade Loren farewell and headed back toward the car park and then home to Old Dominion Drive.

As they chatted during the drive home, both Lorna and Carolyn agreed that it had been a fine day with good outcomes. Lorna settled down to finish off her "Remembrance" piece of school work ready for the next day back in school whilst Carolyn prepared the hot chocolate and cookies for their evening ritual.

Carolyn offered up a silent prayer for Pete's spirit and for him to continue watching over her, then started to prepare for bed. The upcoming four-day working week would inevitably bring workload pressures after the Monday closure of her practice.

 **The Memorial Day Monday (Carolyn's hardest day of the year) was drawing to a close. The hard work of rehab - and the visit by NASA and "the Martians" - lay ahead for the morning for Loren. Loren would not be short of a varied (and exhausting) workload any time soon.**

 **End Ch. 4 - "** **Arlington - Memorial Day 2013** **"**


	5. News of the Awakening spreads

**Chapter 5: News of Loren's "Awakening" spreads.**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the " _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_ " disclaimer. To this, I now add "** _ **apart** _**_from any character_** ** _created by myself_ ".** **Summary** **: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike (Moved up to a "T" classification from Ch5 onwards).**

Now, on with Chapter 5 - News of "the Awakening" spreads and the hard work of rehabilitation begins. Loren's support network grows.

 **555-555-555-555**

 **Start Ch 5 - Awakening - news spreads and the medics arrive for Week One of the Rehabilitation.**

 **Tuesday, 28th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **08:25hrs EST - Rehab: working Day One (assessment day one)**

After the Monday evening visit at the end of Memorial Day, Loren was slightly concerned about Carolyn and her obsessive addiction to wearing black.

Was it possible that the death of the unexpected father of Carolyn's lost baby (almost ten years ago) could have pushed the flame-haired lawyer over the edge? Loren rationalised that this interpretation of Carolyn's behaviour was unlikely, given that Carolyn was obviously running a high-profile and well-regarded law practice in Tysons Corner. Reassured, she put these concerns for her friend aside as she concentrated on developing the plans for ensuring her own return to fitness.

Loren and her care team had arranged an early start for the Tuesday morning, in anticipation of the visit by the US Navy and NASA teams. They were due to arrive "mob-handed" from the Walter Reed hospital (also known colloquially as "Bethesda" after its location in Maryland). The aim was to be ready for the first visitor at 09:00hrs, so Loren had impressed upon her carers the need for the military mantra of " _hurry up and wait_ ". As a result, her day had started quite early.

The debate over " _what to wear for Tuesday_ " had rambled on for a while into the Monday evening. Carolyn's gift of a navy-blue USN sweatshirt and loose jogging pants had been reluctantly set aside for the time being, because Loren had realised the uncomfortable truth that she was likely to be poked, prodded, probed and sampled extensively during the "Invasion of the medics" on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the NASA and ESA scientists established their baselines and got familiar with their new "study subject".

The impending invasion(s) of her privacy was a prospect which she bore with equanimity. After all, it was existing medical science which had kept her alive (after the initial rescue and recovery) following her failure to walk on water some ten years earlier. Spending some time as a "lab-rat" (Loren personally preferred to use the term "guinea-pig") was, to Loren's newly-unselfish way of thinking, hardly an imposition at all. If the medics could learn from her (just as she had benefited from lessons acquired from earlier generations of comatose patients), then she simply *had* to suck it up and ignore any fleeting embarrassment regarding being "on display" for the medics.

Loren's final decision on her costume for the day ahead was " _yet another day in this backless hospital gown and to hell with modesty_ ". Before that, the early-morning Tuesday shower, with Loren able to balance in the sling and wash her own hair, represented another step forward on her road to mobility and independent living.

The suitcase from Carolyn containing her jogging clothes sat quietly in the corner, ready for her final readiness to dress up at some future date; she had realised belatedly that at some point she would also require underwear on her journey back to civilisation.

Loren decided that JC Penney were likely to win out over Victoria's Secret. She wondered idly what had happened to that red set from Victoria's Secret which Teddy Lindsey had presented to her? She had taken great delight in arriving in his office, with her uniform neatly buttoned up, looking every inch the demure Naval lawyer, then giving him a surreptitious "flash" of red when she sat down across the room from him. The flush on Teddy's face had been well worth the care taken to keep her secret concealed from her colleagues for the rest of the day!

Sitting in the cradle in the wet-room as she luxuriated in the waterfall from the shower, Loren tentatively explored the damage to the back of her head, using her fingertips as she shampooed her hair. Assuming that " _everything feels bigger when you touch but cannot see_ ", she was pleasantly surprised at the relative smoothness of the skin and the very slight sensation of the metal staples below the skin, which had held together the shattered section of her skull.

Once more, Loren was reminded of just how lucky she had been on that night, not only to have kept breathing and avoiding drowning, but also to have escaped any apparent brain damage. Reaching up, she assessed the length of her hair and reckoned that, from the way it was growing and how she had grown her hair in previous years, she would be able to style her hair into her pre-"swim" styles by the time she celebrated Christmas at the end of '13. She realised that she quite liked the idea of returning to a military-style "bun", which would sweep her hair away from her face and would also totally obscure any sign of the scar (and also cushion any unexpected impacts to the weak spot at the back of her head).

She recalled young Sergei's comment about mistaking Harriet Sims-Roberts for her, assuming that she had released her hair from what he called the "fist". Somehow, Loren preferred the term "bun" - without the technicalities of the French description of a "chignon".

However, she realised pragmatically that a choice of new hairstyles lay some way ahead in her timeline - quite some way ahead. For now, she just wanted to regain a little more control over her body every day. Today's new element of control was washing her own hair, as she rinsed out the shampoo and prepared for the conditioner.

She smiled at her mid-week morning care nurse - a tall, willowy blonde from Kansas called Jenny. "I know it seems silly Jenny, but being able to wash my own hair is another step forward for me in my recovery - just another bit of my femininity restored".

Jenny nodded her understanding and empathised: "Well, we have been caring for your hair since March of last year when the decision was made to let it grow back; previously we just ran a buzz-cut trimmer over you every second Friday before you were showered. Also, I personally appreciate not having to wear the full-body waterproof outfits to wash you, now that you can wash some parts of your body on your own. Trust me, your awakening makes our life so much easier as you do more of the washing yourself" she smiled as she handed Loren the bottle of conditioner.

Loren noticed, appreciatively, that the brands of shampoo and conditioner matched those from her apartment. The brand names were the same, although obviously some marketing team had changed the label design at some point in the past ten years (maybe more than once; hell she didn't know). She chalked up her ability to focus on this attention to detail as another item for which she needed to thank Tracy Manetti (and probably Carolyn as well) for ensuring that she was well-cared for during her Long Sleep. The scent of the conditioner triggered a happy memory for her and she inhaled deeply - this time managing to avoid choking on an inadvertent mouthful of conditioner-flavoured water!

Carefully avoiding dislodging her feeding tube, intravenous drip and several other tubes which still invaded her body, Loren made good progress in mopping water off her skin before her arms became tired. Jenny and another nurse then took over, dabbing her lower body dry, shifting Loren in the slings so that they could get to all parts of her body and then applying a light moisturiser. Loren was most appreciative that her skin had not developed any bedsores in the decade of her "Long Sleep" (as she had come to call it). She had to depend on Jenny to blow-dry her hair, however - drying her own hair independently was a task which would have to wait for better muscle tone in her arms at some point in the future, she had realised.

Returned to her bed and unloaded from the slings, Loren was dressed in a clean hospital gown and then allowed to rest, lying back on the bed as she sipped a fruit juice. Her steadily-increasing intake of food by mouth was currently limited to a porridge-like, high-fibre meal, which was designed to kick-start her digestive system. Any decisions regarding changes to her feeding arrangements would wait until after the Navy medics had examined her *and* in consultation with Dr Andersen and Loren herself. Everyone had expressed their pleasure at her awakening and the fact that *she* would have a major input to any major (and minor) decisions regarding her care.

Loren watched in fascination as the next tube of high-protein, high-nutrition breakfast paste was connected to her feeding tube and steadily delivered directly into her stomach. She knew that she had a long road to travel, but the experience gathered in caring for earlier coma recovery patients would, she knew, guide her carers as she returned steadily towards "normal life" - whatever that might ultimately be.

She was ready to admit (if only to herself) that she was ready to kill for a decent steak, but that lay some (or many) weeks/months away on the path of her recovery. Medical direction and experience would control the path of her cuisine and her diet, meaning that she would have to adhere to the mantra of her recently increased patience and tolerance of frustration. She was determined that "New Loren" would be a better human being.

 **Tuesday, 28th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **09:25hrs EST - Rehab: working Day One (assessment day one)**

At 09:25hrs, the door opened and Dr Andersen walked in with a welcoming smile, followed by a dozen other white-coated individuals. He paused at the foot of the bed, to ascertain that he was welcome (Loren indicated this by the simple expedient of flinging her arms open wide and inviting him to " _Come and hug your number one patient and lab-rat!_ " so he naturally obliged).

A round of introductions followed. Eight Americans, two Canadians, a Brit and a French doctor (the latter four from the ESA - the European Space Agency) were introduced. Everybody had, thoughtfully, been provided with huge name labels bearing their names, which were affixed to their lapels. Within a few minutes, Loren was surrounded by four US Navy medics together with eight astro-medical experts and researchers, all chatting happily as they lined up and co-ordinated their tasks.

A flip-chart was set up in the corner of the room, detailing their names, contact details and areas of specialism. Their specialisms covered heart and lung, blood flow in the extremities; lung capacity, sleep positions, skin care and maintenance; digestion, muscle mass preservation and finally " _endocrinology and reproduction_ ". Loren was uncertain as to what had happened to include this particular area of specialism, but she rationalised that two years in space was likely to generate some form of sexual tension within a mixed crew of healthy physical specimens.

After a series of examinations on the bed, Loren was put back into the hoisting sling and proceeded to be examined from many angles (one or two of which, she reckoned, would give Playboy magazine readers a headache!) as the scientists got to grips with becoming familiar with her body in the post-coma condition in which they had been introduced to her.

They would be monitoring and examining her for the next two years (on current estimates), so it was important that everyone knew the "year zero/day one" state of each respective part of Loren's body that they would be following. Mentally, Loren began to plan for Memorial Day of 2015 as her date of escape/release.

Other teams would look at the long-term data, but these were the people who would pick up the tiny changes and trace alterations within her body as Loren fought and worked and exercised her way back to full fighting fitness - which was her self-determined goal, without prevarication. She wanted to walk out of the facility at some point, returning to her life (whatever that might be).

Secretly, she harboured a desire to, once more, be "Lt Loren Singer USN JAG Corps". However, she realised that many obstacles, pitfalls and chance happenings lay between today and that one potential outcome for her future life. As the probing of her body continued, she found herself playing a game of " _what if?_ " and she rapidly realised that the UCMJ (and any subsidiary US Navy code of conduct considerations) might not actually have a section on " _Rejoining the service after resurrection_ ". Loren Singer planned once more to be pushing boundaries - but this time, patiently and in collaboration with those many people around her who could help, assist and support her.

Andersen led the first case conference which took place around Loren's bed so that she was fully-involved in all the discussions, proposal and the decision-making. As Andersen explained "You, Loren, are at the centre of this project. We have studied your unconscious form for some ten years and now we can interact with you and gain knowledge as we bring you back towards fighting fitness.". He paused, before continuing with a smile: "That is not a prompt for you to relapse into pugnacious and troublesome, please Loren! Also, with my apologies, this session will extend longer into this afternoon than we had originally planned - because the physiotherapist who will be working with you each day this week has been delayed on her flight in from Toronto, so please do not wear yourself out before she arrives later this afternoon".

Everyone (including Loren) laughed. Andersen continued to explain the process of electric stimulation which had been used to keep Loren's muscles moving, along with physical therapy and manipulation to prevent her joints from seizing up. Overall, Loren had to admit that her carers had done an excellent job, considering that she had been totally unable to interact and co-operate with the PT teams over the decade of her Long Sleep. This was one potential method to keep deep-space astronauts fit during the journey (or during some form of stasis if that would help the really deep-space journeys which were being planned for the distant future).

Several hours passed, working steady through every part of her body, comparing current situation/performance with "optimal" (and setting stage targets on the road to recovery of what everyone agreed would be the target of "full mobility"). Loren felt energised, uplifted and confident that these dozen experts held the key(s) to her long-term goal of eventually walking out under her own steam.

The US Navy team were interested in heart/lung fitness and mental alertness. The NASA/ESA team were particularly interested in muscle mass and muscle tone - they had to develop exercise systems which would keep the Martian voyagers fit during the interplanetary transits. Experimental equipment and exercise arrangements on the International Space Station had provided good data, but Loren's ten-year hibernation gave the Martian teams a far-greater opportunity to measure the recovery from long-term stasis than would be feasible with fully-sentient volunteers lying flat in a laboratory - as one of the Canadians put it succinctly: " _even if we *PAID* someone, we cannot ask them to lie flat for two years_!".

Loren began to feel a steadily-strengthening impression that she was valued, as the plans evolved for her return to fitness.

A working lunch was provided on a table set up in the corner of Loren's room (considerately, the table was placed out of her sight-line because she was still fed by tube) and the discussions continued. Nutrition was determined to be the next area for study. This meant that Loren's current liquid-direct-into-stomach delivery would need to be reverted to "nutrition by mouth" in due course - not one of the Martian astronaut trainees had expressed a desire to have a feeding tube implanted (even in an experimental phase!). So it was clear that Loren would need to continue with the work to mobilise her throat, saliva glands and her swallow reflex as a matter of some urgency.

"Lab-Rat Loren" had her work cut out! Nevertheless, Loren pronounced herself "up for the challenge" and the detailed plans were drafted. The US Navy teams had completed all their examinations and would plan to return after three months, some time around Labour Day in early September, then again after a further three months - just before Christmas, then again in Feb/March and May/June of '14 to complete the first year. It was agreed that the NASA/ESA teams would visit fortnightly, on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month to monitor progress, maintain contact and undertake what the NASA team termed "mid-course corrections" as a nod to the old American Apollo space programmes.

With good progress made, the meeting broke up around 3:00PM and the astro-medics faded away, to write up their results and to plan the activities for the second day of the assessment, departing with the cheerful farewell call of " _we shall see you tomorrow, Loren_ ". Dr Andersen and Jenny remained with Loren as she relaxed back onto her pillow, before Jenny delivered the next instalment of the nutrition, while the occupants of the room awaited the arrival of the delayed British physiotherapist inbound from Toronto. With the feed delivered, Jenny headed back to the nurses' station leaving Loren with Dr Andersen.

 **Tuesday, 28th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **15:15hrs EST - Rehab: working Day One (assessment day one)**

Dr Andersen sat down alongside Loren's bed and sighed as he relaxed. He took her hand in his and smiled into her eyes. "Well, my favourite space-faring guinea-pig, I believe that I can say ' _the girl done well_ ' in today's sessions".

Loren smiled and rested her head back on the pillow. "Well, Doc, I reckon that today's success is partially down to you successfully preparing everyone involved so thoroughly - including me".

Andersen nodded: "Why thank you ma'am. Before the physio from ESA gets here, there is something personal that I want to cover with you".

"OK, go ahead Doc - is it secret (because I notice that we are alone)"? Loren fluttered her eyelashes provocatively and raised an eyebrow to frame her question.

Andersen chuckled. "No, it is nothing like that. The gynaecological team who tended to you after the caesarean left a note in your file entitled " _unfinished business_ ". Basically, when you woke up they wanted to follow up on the aftercare and wound care, which is apparently much easier and thorough with a conscious lady than an unconscious patient." He grimaced before continuing. "The lead female gynaecologist explained something about flexibility internally when the body is awake".

He raised his hands in surrender: "Hey, I just do coma aftercare; normal married life does not prepare me for these in-depth matters, which is why we need to arrange a transfer trip for you, on some future date, to get you out for a check-up".

Loren smiled: "Doc, I am sure that it will be fine - as a woman, I am all in favour of regular breast checks and cervical smear tests - and I am ten years overdue for them, so I would be keen to get back with the programme as soon as possible. So would you please ' _make it so_ ' when convenient? I would love to breathe fresh air and smell the flowers".

"OK, there are a couple of things that we need to arrange. Your body has been at a constant temperature for ten years in this climate-controlled room, so we need to be certain that you can handle temperature changes. The reason for this is because, in some long-term coma patients, their bodies lose the ability to self-regulate the body temp. Over the coming weeks, we shall progressively wheel you out to the day-room, where you can see outside and encounter a cooler room. But the other thing we need to do is protect your eyes, so the first trips to the day-room may be at night".

"My eyes? Why?"

"Because you have seen no daylight for ten years and, since you awoke, this room has maintained low light levels. We learned a lot from 33 Chilean miners in 2011, who spent 69 days trapped down a mine in the dark before being rescued. This means also, when you finally go out, we'll have you in heavy-duty shades to protect you from any risk of eye strain".

"OK Doc, that makes sense". Loren relaxed, as another step on the path to her restoration slotted into place.

Just then, a young brunette woman walked in, dressed in a polo shirt, jogging trousers and trainers, with a sweatshirt tied around her waist; on her polo shirt, she bore the NASA and ESA crests, beneath a UK Union Flag.

She walked up to the bed with her arm outstretched in greeting and introduced herself with a British accent. "Hello Miss Singer; I am Deborah Cromwell. I am your physiotherapist supplied by the European Space Agency (in conjunction with NASA). You are very important to us, because what you have slept through is a remarkably accurate replica of what our astronauts will go through as they travel to (and back from) Mars in the mid-2020s. So I am here all this week to learn, to get you mobilised and to track the re-generation of your muscle mass, your fitness, your physical co-ordination and to check your skin condition. I hope, to start with, that you would consent to call me Debbie as we sit, chat and get acquainted with one another".

Loren took the proffered hand and shook Debbie's hand, with the reply: "Oh yes Debbie, I heard the Mars travel story this morning (and over the weekend when I woke up), so I am familiar with what NASA and ESA are expecting (or hoping for, at least) from me - and yes, please call me Loren".

"OK Loren; I have two parts to my involvement with you. The first relates to mobilising you following your C-section; although it was ten years ago, your body's long-term stasis means that we should treat the scar as having happened far more recently. Although the old advice for mothers after a C-section was ' _be gentle for six weeks_ ' there is a growing body of evidence that indicates we should treat the recovery from a caesarean as we would, say, knee surgery."

Debbie patted Loren's hand. "So, we are going to get you back to full fitness over a longer period of six to 12 months. I expect your core body to be back to perfection a year from now. The second priority - rebuilding your overall fitness and monitoring for the Mars missions - will run in parallel and could take us even longer. Loren, our mantra will be: ' _Push but stop if it hurts; we shall build slowly to get you a very healthy body'_ and I intend to be with you very step of the way, visiting you once or twice every week for the next 12 or so months".

"Debbie, that makes good sense to me - OK, I am in your hands for the next two years - presumably you will leave me with exercise sheets and diagrams, so that I can explain to my friends and also so that I can do some top-up exercises in the evenings and at weekends?" Loren was determined to make good progress; Debbie smiled at the realisation that she had an eager and motivated patient on her hands.

Debbie put Loren through some pretty gruelling assessment tests - mobility, dexterity, strength of grip; hand-eye co-ordination, hand-feet coordination (Loren realised that she was experiencing a very slight "tug" from the area around her caesarean scar, so she told Debbie) and (with people supporting her on both sides) balance.

By the end, Loren was sweating and panting like a horse after the gallops - leading her to log with Jenny the need for a shower afterwards and then a lie-down to recover. Debbie nodded and stepped away to the phone, to make arrangement for the following sessions. As Loren's breathing returned to normal, Debbie's phone conversation finished. Loren wanted to start providing feedback on the session, so she spoke up.

"Debbie, was anyone able to check my fitness or muscle mass after the first year and the second year?"

Debbie smiled and replied: "Well, given that I was still in grammar school in England, I know that it wasn't me in 2004 and 2005. But I will check. You're thinking of running a comparison year-by-year over the decade, I presume?"

Yes; if I reached this level of unfitness after ten years in space, fair enough; but if I crashed to this level of unfitness in the first year, then your astronauts will not be fit enough to erect the base station on Mars when they land after resting through the interplanetary transit".

Debbie smiled: "Loren, that is a very good point - and that is *exactly* the purpose of these studies, using you and other long-term coma patients around the world. I was up in Toronto yesterday monitoring a similar long-term coma patient. You and I will be working together for quite some time to come, so may I offer to bring you a decent coffee in the mornings when I arrive, but starting on Friday of *next* week please? Remember that we'll have a unique opportunity to monitor your reaction to caffeine after ten caffeine-free years, so it mustn't muck up my first week of heartbeat and BP readings".

"Yes, that would be lovely; and if I have to wait a week or so for you to take my start-of-exercise readings, then that first, wonderful, coffee will be my reward for my patience. I like this project!" Loren was looking forward to being useful; her long-term career and employment worries had been kicked into the long grass and she wasn't going to worry yet about what the next ten years held for her.

Taking the Friday (her "Awakening Day") as "Day One", this Tuesday was "Day Five"; she was in for the long haul and she would have to be realistic about how long it would take for her decade-immobile body to regain strength and mobility. The impatient and self-obsessed Loren of the past had no place in 2013, although her steely determination would be crucial in driving her through those days when everything would appear to conspire against her.

 **The "Ice Queen" personage that had been Loren Singer had truly died and been left behind for good in that freezing river.**

 **Loren realised that she had received a gift which few people are ever given. She had been reborn in that river and she would become known as a determined yet more-compassionate member of the human race as she progressed towards a return to full life**.

 **Tuesday, 28th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **17:55hrs EST - Rehab: end of working Day One (assessment day one)**

When Carolyn and Lorna arrived for their evening visit, Loren heard them before they appeared, because Carolyn had reverted to her knee-high, high-heeled black boots for her daily tribute to Pete, but they were paired with a royal blue skirt-suit over a plain white blouse and matching silk scarf - very much in keeping with the professional image of a successful family lawyer. Lorna wore her school uniform and carried her hat. Loren assumed that the weather was warming up, as neither Carolyn nor Lorna was carrying a coat.

Loren had lots to discuss with Carolyn and Lorna when they visited her during the early evening. Lorna's school would be running a project which would report every month on her progress - Lorna was obviously the lead contact for the school project and she took her duties seriously. She told her mother that the monthly progress interview between Lorna and her mother would be held on the last Friday of every month - so the upcoming Friday would see the first interview for the school project. Loren was happy to relate all that had happened during the day and how she was building a good working relationship with her blonde British physiotherapist.

Loren kept up her arm and leg exercises during Carolyn's visit. She rested for a half-hour after their departure, reading from her laptop which was propped up on a long-armed stand over her bed. Eventually the weariness in her muscles began to fade and she dimmed the overhead light then pulled the bedding up to her chin. Within five minutes, the room resounded to the sound of a snoring Loren.

Tracy checked in for her night shift, took Loren's stats at 23:00hrs and smiled as she left the peacefully-resting Loren to slumber. The treatment plan from the British physiotherapist had been propagated and discussed among the nursing staff during the nursing shift handover; Wednesday would being further exercise, more visitors and a further half-step forward on the mobility path.

 **Tuesday was drawing to a close. Loren slept through the night and Tracy's overnight notes would begin the debate in the morning about cutting down on Loren's need for sedatives.**

 **Wednesday, 29th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **09:00hrs EST - Case Conference, Day Two (assessment day two)**

Loren and her care team had adjusted to the rhythm of the study team following the first day. She was washed, showered and breakfasted by 08:51hrs, with time to sip some water before Andersen led in his team for the second day. After the preponderance of Bethesda-based US Navy questions yesterday, today was steadily moving into considerations for space travel and the long-endurance space-flight considerations for which Loren's stasis would be informative. The NASA and ESA specialists outlined their areas of interest and Loren became once more the subject of some fairly intimate and uncomfortable examinations. Debbie and Jenny hovered in the background in case assistance was required.

The team had introduced her to several items of measuring kit which they would be fitting onto (and into) her body - including what one of the female researchers (a cheerful brunette from Seattle called Jennifer) described as the "techno-bra" - an upper-body harness of sensors which wrapped around the subject's body and could be worn under her loose clothing. Loren looked to Andersen and held up her arm, hoping to establish the day on which he planned to remove the intravenous drip (at least) to allow her to pull on her sweatshirt without restriction. He checked her charts and replied with the fairly-positive response of " _soon, Loren; soon_ ".

Jennifer had designed then developed (and worn the prototype of) the "techno-bra" and she assisted Loren as she was strapped into the contraption of carbon-fibre webbing, sensors and the plethora of signal cables which ran down her back. Jennifer admitted that she had designed the bra for an upright human form, to measure when the subject was walking, running, climbing or cycling. Loren's semi-reclined position had necessitated some swift design modifications, but Loren was able to put her gown back on and allow the sensor web around her chest to start taking readings. Jennifer checked on her laptop and pronounced herself satisfied, informing Loren that they hoped to get an initial full week of readings - including overnight and across the weekend. Loren looked longingly at the suitcase which contained her jogging top, then raised a quizzical eyebrow to Andersen.

Loren explained her desire to be clothed at some point in the near future once the intimate probings had ceased.

Andersen nodded. "Well, your urinary outputs are fine; the extra fluids which we have counted into you this weekend are all accounted for in the flow out of your kidneys. So we'll move you to 100% fluids by mouth on Friday and then (at that point, dear Loren with a roll of drums!) we shall remove the intravenous bag. I will leave the "shunt" under your skin in place for a while (in case you need to be rehydrated in a hurry) but on current plans, by Friday lunchtime your arms should be free and unencumbered to get that sweatshirt on. Remember that Jennifer's cables from the ' _techno-bra_ ' will have to run down your back, but that should present no challenges to us. We shall increase the fibre content in your food, to help with *that* mobilisation. Everything is looking good, Loren, but you need to understand that it will not all be sorted today or even this week".

Loren smiled her gratitude; "Thanks doc, that gives me a goal. I'm very happy to be working this way with you. So, what's next, exercise?"

Andersen nodded and beckoned over Debbie Cromwell. The British physiotherapist moved in and began a discussion on exercises; within a half-hour, Loren was removed from the bed and sitting on a supporting bench whilst her feet and legs used a floor-mounted set of cycle pedals. This was an introduction to what would be Loren's life for the foreseeable future.

"Loren, if you are ever to be able to walk out of this facility, the hard work that lies ahead is mainly down to you. Others will come up with a plan, the support and the motivation, but ultimately the key responsibility for success lies with you, Loren herself".

Thinking through the prospects, Loren realised that she would not want to have it any other way - she was in charge of her destiny, for the first time since Teddy Lindsey's manic assault over ten years earlier.

By the time that the visitors had packed up on the Wednesday afternoon, ready for their return flight to the Marshall Space Centre in Alabama, Loren was close to tears with the indignity of the probings and, more importantly, the realisation of just how weak she was. Ten years of near-stillness had robbed her of significant muscle mass; she would not be recreating the "JAG-a-thon" any time soon.

However, she took comfort from the fact that she *did* now have a clear goal - full mobility in two years, to mimic the end of a round-trip to Mars. She now had Monday, June 1st, 2015 in her sights - a goal which might change over time, but that was the date by which she wanted to present Andersen and his wonderful team with an empty bed and room which were no longer required. By that date, she wanted Room 1013 to have the metaphorical " _room to rent_ ' sign hanging outside! Her 104-week countdown had begun, with 733 days to go.

The old "Loren" lay behind her in the past - she had shed her skin as the new collaborative Loren emerged. With a ten-year career gap, she could no longer even dream of becoming the first female JAG. That career goal lay in tatters on the riverbed of the Potomac, but she could be the fittest - and best-documented - post-coma survivor ever researched! The TV documentary film crew, who were supporting Lorna's school project, would be providing a two-year record of her recovery - the resulting documentary should inspire others in a similar situation

Loren now realised that she existed to help others, no matter what her original goals and drivers in life had been way back in 2002. She smiled to herself; she was determined to embrace the change and, once more, to do her very best to achieve the outcomes which now lay ahead of her.

 **Wednesday, 29th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:20hrs EST -** **Rehab: end of working Day Two (assessment day two)**

When Carolyn and Lorna visited that evening, Loren had regained her energy and the three women reviewed the day, the exercise plans and the likely timescale.

Carolyn was relieved. She had suspected that Loren might fall back into the old impatient mould of Loren " _God grant me patience and I want it right NOW_ " Singer. Fortunately, that Loren seemed to have been left behind in the Potomac - "a _nd a good place to leave her, too_ " thought Carolyn, admiring the still-driven yet somehow far more-human woman on the bed before her.

Carolyn had already told Loren that the prospect of handing over Lorna to her mother one day was not a prospect that worried her or caused her fear. Carolyn was confident that she had done an excellent job as Lorna's guardian, yet she began to wonder if Pete's loving spirit might be lining her up for some other purpose.

Whatever might lie ahead for her, Carolyn was certain that she would embrace the challenge and thrive on the opportunities that would be presented to her.

She returned to room 1013 to find Loren and Lorna reading through some news items on the laptop. Loren was already re-acquainted with finding her way around technology and was starting to research some of her former colleagues - along with " _US Navy reinstatement after prolonged illness_ " procedures, which did not fill her with optimism following her first read-through of the document.

In parallel, Loren had decided not to raise her concerns about Carolyn's apparent "always wear black" obsession for the time being. She had thought about the matter once more on the Tuesday evening and had decided that, whatever problems her friend was experiencing, Loren needed to have gained a greater level of fitness before she began probing Carolyn's reasoning. Carolyn's royal blue suit on Tuesday (and a charcoal-grey suit on Wednesday with the inevitable black footwear) had helped assuage Loren's concerns. That particular sleeping dog was going to be left to lie asleep for a while longer.

Although Loren could obviously appreciate Carolyn's motivation to remembrance, the obsession with black was a little worrying (although Loren wished that she had been wearing warm long boots on the night when she met Teddy Lindsey on that fateful bridge). She reasoned that boots versus shoes on snow would have kept her legs a lot warmer on that January night - and flat heels might have saved her from slipping on the snow. She dismissed the thoughts as unprofitable - she would never be able to know "what might have been" on that fateful night on the bridge. She was just thankful that Carolyn's guardian angel Pete had been around at that precise time to rescue her from the river.

When Carolyn excused herself to check on progress with the nursing staff, Lorna took Loren through her day-planner from school. On Carolyn's return, Loren discovered that, universally, everyone was happy with the progress that Loren had made so far. Additionally, everyone was looking forward to helping Loren progress and to get out of the facility and home to her daughter.

"Isn't that a bit ambitious for now, Loren?" asked Carolyn.

"Oh yes, but there is no harm in planning ahead whilst my muscles recover from their torture" replied Loren sweetly.

Carolyn found it difficult to argue with that sunny approach to future life, and the three conspirators agreed the planned time to gather again on Thursday evening.

 **Wednesday, 29th May 2013**

 **Highway between Long Term Care Facility and Carolyn's home**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **19:55hrs EST**

In the car on the way home, Lorna asked the question which Carolyn had been dreading - but expecting - for nearly ten years.

"Auntie Carolyn; where will I live when Mommy comes home from the hospital?"

Carolyn stifled a proud tear as she composed a sensible reply.

A phrase from an old article on child-rearing sprang to mind, written to mark the moment when a child leaves to head off to University: " _They grow and they go_ ".

She had realised that, one day, she would be in the equivalent position of a "proud parent"; but she realised that, as an equal concern, she could be very proud of having stood up as the guardian of record when Lorna was at grave risk of being swallowed up in the DC family services system. Fighting for custody of Lorna, backed up by Tracy Manetti, had been one of the most satisfying - and proud - experiences of Carolyn's life. Together with the unexpected loss of her Navy legal career, the experience had set the course for Carolyn's future life and work from that moment onwards.

"OK Lorna, let's talk about that. You know that I own the plot of land next door - on the right as we drive into the garage?"

"Yes; I like looking out, across the roof of the garage, over the trees there from my bedroom".

"Well, if Mommy is on track to be fit and released by the summer of 2015, I reckon that we shall need to start building her home in the middle of '14; so by the end of this year, I reckon that we shall need to start working with Mommy on her requirements for her new home".

"Yes, Auntie Carolyn; but where will I live then?"

The spiritual successor to Loren Singer's courtroom interrogations was alive and well and living in her 10-year-old daughter.

"Oh Lorna, we need to work out an answer to that question, in conjunction with your Mommy - and I haven't a clue how we will get to an answer".

Carolyn was proud that her face hadn't betrayed the wrench which she had felt in her gut at the prospect of actually fulfilling (and therefore potentially ending) her role as guardian when Lorna's mother returned (hopefully fully) to the Land of the Living.

Lorna had not sprung from her loins, but Carolyn had been there at the birth and she had tended to Lorna every single day since then. She felt that the only thing she did not have as a qualification for motherhood was a set of stretch marks - and she was *very* happy not to have those, every time she went swimming at Pimmit Hills!

When the day came for Lorna to fly the nest, Carolyn knew that she would be immensely proud on that day - because it meant that she had done a good job as Lorna's guardian. However she still realised that her life would change once more as she took a step backwards and away from this bright, lively, intelligent girl whom she had nurtured for nearly ten years.

Carolyn had also realised that, if Lorna did eventually spend more time with her mother, there would be a lower guardianship workload for her. This would in turn mean more personal " _time for Carolyn_ ", so perhaps Carolyn should start thinking about what Carolyn would want to do with her increased spare time. This required further thought!

" _They grow and they go_ ".

 **555-555-555-555**

 **Thursday, 30th May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **15:30hrs EST - Rehab; working Day Three (rehab day one)**

The flipchart in the corner told its own story - _Daily physiotherapy, Thursday psychological checks, Thursday exercise, Thursday dietary conference_.

The process of mobilising Loren was gaining pace; she wanted to be mobile and, at the very least, disconnected from everything which had been done (as a necessity during her coma) to her body whilst she had been residing in the Twilight Zone.

Today, she would be weighed before and after the morning session, then again either side of the afternoon exercise and mobilisation session. The "guinea-pig" was beginning to thrive on her routine, but she was also looking forward to the two-day rest break which the weekend would bring.

Dr Andersen had been very clear, when he laid out the rehabilitation schedule, that Saturday and Sundays were "down-time" for Loren to relax and enjoy life, her friends and anything else unconnected with exercise and rehabilitation.

Debbie had arranged a Loren-specific programme of half-hour slots of exercise, morning and afternoon, followed by half-hour rest periods before beginning again. The long-term timetable included "coffee" at 1100 but not this first week - the schedule would include real coffee starting on the Friday of the following week (after the baseline readings had been taken by Debbie), "lunch" at 13:00hrs and a mid-afternoon refreshment break around 15:30hrs.

At coffee time, she looked up to observe a new arrival; what Jane Austen would probably have described as a "devilishly handsome gentleman" entered the room.

Although Loren's second thought was " _he's too old for me_ " she greeted the man cordially as he introduced himself.

"Hi, the name is Susskind - Isaac Susskind. I have the role of looking after your psychological well-being and I hope that you will call me Isaac. I work alongside Dr Vera McCool in Bethesda, so I understand the pressures in the JAG community. But my role, as we go forward through your studies and the exercises, is to support *you* and to occasionally annoy you (so I shall apologise in advance) with a repetitive question - " _how are you feeling?_ ".

Loren sighed: "Isaac, it is good to meet you; I'll apologise in advance, for glaring at you when you ask that question too often. Deal?" She extended her hand.

Isaac laughed and took her hand: "It is so nice to get these new working relationships off to a flying start - as opposed to a flying stop!". His smile faded: "...but do please know Loren that I am here for YOU - not the Navy, not the hospital, not NASA, not ESA; I am here for *you* as my number one priority".

"That gives me comfort, Isaac. So, where are the ink-blots?"

"No, nothing like that - unless I see you looking stressed - but full marks for distinguishing psychology from psychiatry!" Isaac took her hand once more: "I intend to assist your recovery, never to obstruct it; so please, if you feel any problems, pressure, uncertainty or particularly fear or loss of control, you tell me - _pronto_! OK?"

"Got it, Doc - err, Isaac" Loren replied quickly.

Their talking session lasted through the "coffee break" on Debbie's schedule, then Debbie returned for the "16:00hrs torture session" as Loren had laughingly named it.

Even after this short period of mobilisation, Loren knew that she was improving. Every day, she would be one day closer to the exit door, the sunshine and life as a real mother to Lorna.

She just had to get through to Friday evening, so she had mentally allocated herself achievable goals for Thursday lunchtime, Thursday tea-time, Friday lunchtime and Friday close-of-play. Loren was determined to be as much in control of her life and rehabilitation as was possible. She hoped to justify Dr Andersen's plan of removing her drip and continuing with 100% fluids by mouth.

She had also decided that, once Lorna and Carolyn arrived on Friday evening for their social gathering, she would formally declare herself "off duty" until Monday morning came around.

Unfortunately, Thursday night coincided with a halving of Loren's dosage of overnight sedatives.

Her heart monitor set off an alert at 02:30AM and she awoke, from a dream/nightmare about the river, to find the nursing team gathered around her bed in a semi-circle of concerned faces.

By mutual agreement, a cup of herbal tea (rather than what Loren politely described as a " _chemical cosh_ ") soothed her mind and she subsequently slept through until the dawn. Friday's sedative were upped slightly, to 75% of her previous maintenance baseline.

The plan was to reduce the daily dose by 10% every couple of days, aiming for sedative-free nights by the end of June 2013. It was clear that the previous 50% cut had been too close to "cold turkey" to be successful.

Loren dropped back to sleep around 03:15hrs and she slept through until breakfast. The river did not re-enter her dreams for the rest of the night.

 **555-555-555-555**

 **Friday, 31st May 2013**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:45hrs EST - Rehab; the end of working Day Four**

On arrival, Carolyn and Lorna inspected the flipchart and could see the slowly-increasing scores of Loren's initial exercise plan. Small steps were starting to add up. Andersen had reviewed her urinary function and was confident that the intravenous drip could be dispensed with, so Loren greeted her visitors in her new Navy Blue sweatshirt.

The change of outfit was a minor comfort for her, because she was still strapped into the "techno-bra" which she would be wearing across the weekend so that resting readings could be monitored for the NASA team. She was pleased that the slightly baggy sweatshirt covered many of the "lumps and bumps" of the techno-bra which protruded from her upper body. More than that, it felt *good* to start wearing normal clothes, which in turn brightened her outlook on life.

Loren sat, propped up on the pillows, looking triumphantly tired. She hugged both of her visitors and then proceeded to ask about what was planned for the weekend.

Carolyn was adding a cycling machine to the rowing machine and cross-trainer in the first bay of her garage in Old Dominion Drive - which she used as an impromptu gym, first thing in the mornings and, occasionally, in the evenings after a stressful day.

Lorna had admitted that the long-distance cycling was still a slight strain on her growing legs, so she and Carolyn realised that a bit more stamina was needed in her legs, as the summer cycling season started. This would enable Carolyn and Lorna to maintain their guardianship bond long-term, as the relationship dynamic shifted with the arrival of Loren back in the world of the living during the upcoming two years.

Carolyn was planning to discuss "future relationships" with Loren, but only when Loren asked.

Loren's next question came out of left-field.

"Carolyn, some time in the coming month, would you mind, please, tracking down Tracy Manetti? I need to thank her (preferably in person) for the work she did on the guardianship with you, plus the work on protecting my assets. I also want to talk to her and also start setting up a Living Will in case something happens to me during my recuperation. I also want to find out about where I stand with the Navy".

"Yes of course, it will be my pleasure. But don't forget that Tracy is still military - I think she may have had a child (or two), then come back to the Pentagon where her godfather was SECNAV when you were last awake. So while you would need her for questions about the Navy, do please remember that my practice could deal with the Living Will (or any Will), especially as the Courts have granted me an enduring power of attorney for your affairs - the courts also have regular reviews with me, to make sure that all is above board and I plan to petition the court to hold the next review here in your room so that you will be fully involved and consulted".

"Thanks friend; I thought about it last night and, foolishly, I considered asking Tracy Manetti precisely because I didn't want to add to your workload with all the wonderful care that you are bestowing upon Lorna".

"No problem and I am not in any way offended - if you wish, I can hand the Living Will job to one of my apprentices as a learning exercise. However, I shall fit in with *your* wishes, Madam Client and track down Tracy". Carolyn made a small bow in Loren's direction and the two women hugged again.

"OK, forget the Living Will for now, but I *would* like to speak with Tracy and thank her for protecting my interests - and getting you all the authorisations that you needed to have in place and so that you protected me so well over these past ten years".

Loren wanted to ensure that Carolyn understood that she was so grateful.

Carolyn nodded: "Fear not, I shall get under way after the weekend as it is too late to call Tracy on a Friday evening; I know an old JAG lawyer who may be able to help".

"Oh crap, please not Harmon Rabb?"

"No, Bud Roberts - he made Commander when Chegwidden retired and we stay in touch periodically: Harriet was very helpful when we were planning Lorna's care following the birth".

Loren nodded. "Yes, I guess that must have been quite stressful, handling a nursing child and working out a legal framework for her care, when the building was full of lawyers looking over Tracy's shoulder?"

Carolyn smiled ruefully: "Let's just say that there were some long and exotic and erudite theories running around - especially as no-one knew for sure who Lorna's father was. The blood group work eliminated both of the Rabb men and also Lindsey, based upon his blood group from military records. I am glad that you have now entrusted me with the secret of Declan - which I shall protect until I die, of course".

"Well actually, it is on the back-story of Declan that I want to consult Tracy - she would have access to some government resources which would make it easier to ask about Declan as I decide whether to make contact in due course - and only *after* I regain my fitness. So next week, you will become the second person to share the secret of Declan, sharing with one other person - Tracy Manetti".

Loren was clearly only comfortable with inching forward on the subject of making contact with Lorna's biological father.

"Fair enough Loren, but remember that we now have a fairly-pervasive Internet; most things can be found at the click of a mouse. But of course I don't have his surname - yet?"

"Hmm, no indeed you do not - and I want it to stay that way for now, dear friend! But I shall entrust Tracy with that piece of information - in confidence. You see, I need to find out about his circumstances before I think about deciding to introduce him to his daughter. He is probably married with a wife and three children and there is no way that I would disturb that family dynamic after all these years".

"You know Loren you are so considerate these days - I almost wonder what they did with the old Loren when they brought in the nice clone!"

"Oh don't worry Carolyn - it definitely *is* me under here, although I intend to be a better human being from now onwards - I obviously won't become the first female JAG because I don't have enough years left".

Carolyn sighed: "and Loren, I shall eat my hat if you go back into the Navy".

The two women chatted for another quarter-hour before Loren's exercise-tired body began to fade away towards sleep.

That night, the 75% dose of sedatives had the desired effect. Loren had also worked out that physical exercise, causing her to be physically tired as well as mentally exhausted, should be a good combination to assure nightmare-free and restful full-night sleep.

By 07:30hrs on the Saturday morning the experiment would be proven to have worked, as Loren arose from a deep, restful and dreamless night of sleep.

Saturday morning would see everyone enjoying a lazy start to the first day of the weekend.

The next week of hard work would start on Monday.

 **End Ch. 5 - "Awakening" - news of the awakening spreads.**


	6. The long and winding road

**Chapter 6: The long and winding road.**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** _ **they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them**_ **" disclaimer. To this, I now add "** ** _apart_** _ **from any character created by myself**_ **".**

 **Summary - added for Ch. 6: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike (Moved up to a "T" classification from Ch5 onwards).**

 **A/N 22-11-2018:** An observant reviewer (thank you "Saissa") left me a review which did not make sense, because it referenced Harm and Terri. I was (at the same time as writing Ch 6 of "Resurrection" in early 2018) also writing Ch 6 of "Cigars, bones, babies and Jimmy Blackhorse" which is a Harm / Terri Coulter pairing... You can probably guess what happened! I have no way to recover the original chapter six of "Resurrection 2013" - sorry! At the time, the website only held the original text for 80 days.

So, if FFN admin support were unable to recover the lost chapter six of "Resurrection 2013", then I have posted a chapter summary (from memory) of what was in Chapter Six - with my apologies to readers who discover this story after mid-2018 and will, sadly, therefore miss the rich tapestry that was the original story of Chapter Six of "Resurrection 2013".

Now, on with Chapter Six.

.Re-building Ch6 – Build the new chapter 6 here:

.Chapter Six was entitled "The long and winding road"

.Covers the period from late May 2013 to New Year's Eve 2013

.Develop the Tracy Manetti back story;

.Continuing therapy;

.Tracy tracks down Declan's whereabouts - but Loren asks her to sit on the information;

.Further work by NASA medical exploration team;

.Further work by the ESA space medicine team;

.More gruelling work with the physiotherapist (physical therapist) Debbie Cromwell - funded by ESA/NASA;

.Gathering her strength;

.A first Christmas since the awakening;

.Carolyn and Lorna begin to think about travelling beyond the DC/Virginia area, to explore more of the USA.

 **With my apologies for over-writing the original chapter 6. Mike**

 **666-666-666-666**

 **End Ch. **6: "The long and winding road". (V2 22-Nov-2018) **.******


	7. Carolyn spreads her wings

**Chapter 7: Carolyn spreads her wings.**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** ** _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_** **" disclaimer. To this, I have added "** _ **apart**_ ** _from any character created by myself_** **".**

Now, on with Chapter 7 - following Carolyn through 2014 until autumn/Fall, alongside Loren's continuing recovery. Carolyn makes an interesting (potentially life-changing) acquaintance as Loren finally becomes able to plan her return to normal life and leaving the facility.

 **777-777-777-777**

 **Wednesday, 1st January 2014**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **11:30hrs EST - planning for 2014**

"Hey Loren and happy new year; we're looking forward to a brilliant (and different) 2014".

Resting in her reclining chair after the morning exercise session (at the time, she thought, it had been a good idea to see in the new year with a normal session of exercise), Loren was able to rest her eyes and use her hearing to ascertain what was going on.

Loren had heard the arrival of Carolyn's heels, accompanied by the sound of Lorna's new shoes (chosen from the web by Loren, delivered by Carolyn as a Christmas present the previous week), as guardian and ward arrived to mark the first day of what was shaping up to be a great year ahead. The visitors took off their coats and walked across to settle into the visitor chairs. Loren opened her eyes and held out her arms to Lorna.

"Thanks Carolyn; come here Lorna and give your mom the first new year hug. It is *so* nice to be able to greet you on New Year's Day, my lovely daughter, because my last thought when I was in the river was regret that I would never know how you would have turned out".

Lorna's eyes were sparkling as she looked across at Carolyn as she hugged Loren. The ten-year-old felt a rush of emotions (mainly love) as she realised that she now had two grown and experienced women to guide her through the years ahead. She knew that Carolyn had developed some ideas, between Christmas and the New Year, which would widen her education, bring her new experiences and would provide a more-varied set of memories which they could feed back to Loren as she continued her physical recovery within the facility.

"So, what's the plan - what will be different for 2014?" asked Loren.

Carolyn and Lorna moved their chairs and sat alongside Loren. Lorna looked across at Carolyn for confirmation then began: "Well Mom, you may or may not know that I have barely left Virginia, apart from the odd trips into Maryland and DC and school trips, since I was born. With you safe and recovering, Auntie Carolyn and I have been thinking about doing some travelling, within the continental USA, starting during this year of 2014. It means that we can send back pictures, blogs and souvenirs as we travel, but it would mean that we would break our sort-of-commitment to visit you every day".

She paused, marshalling her thoughts. "So I want to discuss with you, Mom, how you would feel if we took off for some weekends, or the occasional week, during term breaks and vacation periods during the year in order to travel. But don't worry, because we are already booked in here for Christmas of '14!"

Lorna sat back, awaiting Loren's response; Loren was already smiling, so Lorna had a feeling that a positive response would be forthcoming.

"Oh what a lovely idea - your Auntie Carolyn is clearly still focussed on your best interests. I believe that every girl (heck, every citizen) should see the breadth of experiences and the variety of sights which our wonderful country can offer. I was amazed by what I saw when travelling across my country once I had left Ohio".

She clasped Lorna's hand and reached out to Carolyn. "If you were seeking my blessing, I say 'GO' with my full support and encouragement".

She sat back, smiling: "So what is the first destination and may I nominate a couple of things that I would like you to visit at each venue on my behalf and report back on? Oh, and please avoid Ohio; it's a cr*p-hole!"

Carolyn shrugged as Loren expressed that opinion - Loren was, after all, uniquely-qualified to comment about the state in which she had been born! "Well, today we will build the list of possibilities, Mom".

Over the next hour leading up to lunchtime, the three members of "team Loren/Lorna" worked through online travel guides, tourist information, National Parks websites and TripAdvisor, building up a "long-list" of 14 potential destinations.

Carolyn led the discussion which whittled these down into a "Top 8" and "the backups" to give an achievable schedule for 2014-15 because, as she reminded Lorna, they also had regular horse-riding activities and she would, occasionally, like (and need) to enjoy a quiet weekend at home in Old Dominion Drive with time to clean the house, catch up on mail and newspapers and also just relax.

Lorna piped up: "Yes Auntie Carolyn - and you might meet someone on these journeys!"

Carolyn blushed crimson and looked down at the "wedding" ring on her left hand to hide her blushes. She had to admit that, after ten years, perhaps Lorna's idea was not quite as "off-the-wall" as it might seem at first sight.

Loren looked at the flush in Carolyn's face and realised that ten years of celibacy - whilst enabling Carolyn to devote all of her considerable energies to looking after Lorna and running her legal practice - might not be in the long-term interests of an otherwise healthy heterosexual woman.

Should she raise this with Susskind for an opinion, she wondered? She had been asleep for a decade, whilst Carolyn had consciously and deliberately shut herself off from intimate male contact during a parallel period. She kept the question to herself and, laughing, joined in the debate on "where to go first".

The three were able to build upon Loren's outstanding progress in the latter half of 2013. Her approval enabled Carolyn and Lorna to plan a revision to their hospital visiting schedules during 2014. Then, with Loren's full consultation and agreement, they planned some trips away from McLean. This would enable Lorna to have achieved Loren's desire for her to get out and about, gaining an understanding of " _life outside DC/Virginia_ ".

"OK, so we are looking at fitting in trips to Seattle for the Pacific northwest; San Francisco for the west coast; Bryce Canyon in Utah for the National Parks in the southwest; Mount Rushmore for history and the Badlands; Chicago for views, architecture and shopping in the Magnificent Mile; Boston for history and the Irish connection; New York for a week of frenzy and the Disney complex at Orlando in Florida. Let us see how these fall into a schedule with other commitments and vacations; if it takes two years to complete the programme of visits, so be it".

Carolyn had the list written up on the whiteboard in the corner of the dayroom, so snapped a picture on her cameraphone before wiping the board clear for the next user.

Every trip - all of which Lorna would plan in more detail before she and Carolyn got on the plane - would see regular blogs, vlogs and videoconferences with Loren back in McLean. All of the IT elements would be in place before the start of the first trip.

In planning and documenting these tours, Carolyn and Lorna were keen to gather information which would enable a future return trip to each of the locations. The clear expectation was that Loren would retrace those journey steps one day under her own steam with Lorna - and hopefully soon (to echo Carolyn's prayer). Lorna built an electronic "scrap book" on a personal website, so that she could file, project and display the experiences for her mom to login and view.

 **Monday, 17th February 2014 (Presidents' Day)**

 **Departures area, Orlando Airport,**

 **One Jeff Fuqua Blvd, Orlando, FL 32827**

 **14:15hrs Local**

". _.._ I knew I should have brought another suitcase with me from DC for the souvenirs _..."_ moaned Carolyn with a disarming smile, as she extracted her Amex card in the souvenir luggage store and handed it to the cashier, four hours before their return flight to Dulles. A large stuffed "Pluto" and a even-larger stuffed "Winnie the Pooh" had sat in the lounge of their hotel suite before the trip to the luggage store. It had been obvious that the stuffed toys would need to be fitted inside a case or a large bag before the trip to the airport.

The February '14 half-term holidays in Orlando saw the guardian and ward match each other in three days of childhood-era activities; enjoying the rides, getting soaked on the water features and waving at the parades on Main Street in Disneyworld. Pluto and Winnie would take up residence on the sofa in Lorna's bedroom and another " _I've been here_ " pin would be inserted into the global map on her bedroom wall on their return to McLean.

This trip also did a power of good for Carolyn's self-confidence. Earlier, walking back from the water feature to their suite where a full replacement set of dry clothing awaited her (right down to her underwear), Carolyn had proudly noticed a man of her age-group openly admiring her "assets" within her wet t-shirt. She made a point of swinging her hips as she walked away towards the suite.

This could be fun, Carolyn was realising. She felt alive, energised, free and uninhibited as she accompanied her ward around the USA. The appreciative expression on the face of a complete stranger made her feel good about herself - for the first time in many years of being focussed on her work and her obligations as Lorna's guardian.

Applying the "lessons learned" from the Florida trip, a matching set of Delsey suitcases (which would fit one inside the other for the outbound flights) was swiftly procured on their return to Virginia.

 **Sunday, 20th April 2014 (Easter Sunday)**

 **12151 Ave of the Chiefs,**

 **Crazy Horse,** **SD 57730**

 **13:15hrs Local**

". _.. well, it will be nice when it is finished..."_ Lorna observed, as the design for the excavated chieftain's head and memorial loomed large in model form, with little to show in terms of the rest of the planned excavations on the exposed mountainside.

The trip out to Mount Rushmore over the 2014 Easter weekend gave a real-life large-scale study into American political history with the massive representations of the four presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, which were contrasted (and complemented) by the 21-mile drive to view the emerging Crazy Horse sculpture in development at Thunderhead Mountain in the Black Hills. The face of Crazy Horse (completed in 1998) looked out and down across the working site where the remaining excavations were continuing, slowly, to develop the overall shape of the monument _._

 _Looking at the progress since 1948, Lorna resolved to come back in 2024 for her 21st birthday._

Staying in Rapid City and including a drive round via Custer and the Custer National Park, Carolyn was wiped out by the long drives and instituted a rule that, henceforth, any days involving travel were to be followed by a day of "chill time" around the pool, gym, restaurant or by taking a city tour (depending on the venue for the vacation or visit). Her air miles balance was, however, beginning to mount up nicely.

From her hospital room, Loren loved the evening updates which were sent from whichever hotel or motel room was being used that night (and the occasional SKYPE call during daytime at weekends, to provide live, real-time involvement in the activities).

During their late-afternoon conference call back to McLean, Lorna and Carolyn heard good news.

"Ladies, you are not the only ones who have been clocking up a distance; I reached ten miles this afternoon": Loren had marked the approaching first anniversary of her re-awakening by cycling ten miles in a single shift on her exercise bike. The rebuilding of her leg muscles was proceeding nicely and her stamina training was praised by Dr Andersen and the NASA/ESA teams.

"Wow Mom, that is spectacular; Auntie Carolyn tells me that the W&OD trail runs 45 miles up to Purcellville, so you are well on the way - only another four years before you can cycle the whole trail" Lorna joked, earning a playful head-slap from Carolyn as they stared at the camera in the laptop.

All three women shared the joy of Loren's progress and the day's achievements of the "explorers". Mother, daughter and aunt were brought together by the technology. Loren was truly involved in all the expeditions, as her body recovered steadily following the ten-year stasis after Ted Lindsey's brutal attempt to murder her at the bridge.

 **As she relaxed, Loren looked forward once more with confidence to the future.**

 **777-777-777-777**

 **Monday, 21st April 2014**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **10:30hrs EST**

"Hey Susskind, welcome to my realm". Loren greeted the arrival of Susskind for one of his regular review sessions with her. "Apart from feeling fine, I need to ask you about Carolyn (my daughter's guardian if you remember), from your professional viewpoint".

"OK Loren, please proceed". Susskind's kind, mellifluous voice rumbled through her ears, engendering a sensation of comfort and confidence.

"Well, I am worried about Carolyn; she has been celibate since the end of 2003 when her Marine was killed, has done a brilliant job of raising and mentoring Lorna but I wonder if she is missing out".

"Well, does she seem stressed? Does she seem to be missing out?"

"No, she is always chilled and she has done a perfect job of raising Lorna whilst I was comatose. I just worry that she hasn't been laid in over ten years and I want her to enjoy life".

"Well, straight to the point as always, Loren! So, Carolyn withdrew from life - as I understand it from what you have told me - because of a traumatic event on her life. It may be that she is channelling all the energies which would normally fuel her sex drive into the jobs which she performs as your daughter's guardian and also as a wonderful children's advocate for the area. She has built a fearsome reputation in that arena. You do know that she is up for a President's award in 2014, don't you?"

Loren sat back; the impending award was news to her. Maybe she should leave Carolyn to her own devices for now.

"No, that's new to me - she hadn't told me. OK doc, thanks - I'll leave it".

"Good: now then, turning to you; how are you sleeping...?"

 **Tuesday, 13th May 2014**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:35hrs EST - Lorna's 11th birthday**

". _.. happy birthday dear Lorna, happy birthday to you..."_

The rhymes of the song faded away as Lorna headed to the pile of birthday presents on the bed, including one from Tracy Manetti.

At Loren's request, Carolyn had purchased - and wrapped - two gifts from Loren to Lorna; Lorna unwrapped these first, eagerly tearing the paper as Carolyn cut the birthday cake and distributed the slices.

"Oh Mom, thank you"; she pulled on a pair of leather riding gloves; the kid leather was beautifully soft and moulded itself to her 11-year-old hands.

The second, larger, box, contained a pair of long riding boots; the quality of the leather would pass muster in the dressage ring and Lorna noticed a polishing kit in the bottom of the box - Auntie Carolyn was going to hold her to the polishing lessons which had been hinted at during Memorial Day one year earlier.

Loren leaned across and said: "I understand that you may be thinking of dressage over the next two years, so I wanted you to set off on a firm footing". Groans at the bad joke echoed around the room!

Lorna hugged Loren and thanked her, then turned her attention to the presents from Tracy Manetti - a leather travelling wallet, with space for passports, money, boarding passes and with a notebook and pen. The second present was a dark blue leather passport-holder: " _Everything for the well-travelled young woman_ " read the note in Tracy's flowing handwriting.

"I'll write to Aunt Tracy this evening - please remind me, Auntie Carolyn", promised Lorna as she picked up the bulky, soft package which contained her gift from Carolyn. Unwrapping the gift revealed a quilted riding jacket in her size. She hugged Carolyn, who whispered in her ear: "You're growing, young lady, and I don't want you having a cold back when we are out riding".

"Wow, what a lovely set of presents - thank you everyone" said Lorna. "Plus, we have another celebration later this month Mommy, with the first anniversary of your return. I'm going to bake a cake".

Loren smiled and hugged her. Carolyn hugged her after faintly protesting "Oh no, my poor kitchen" with a smile.

Sometimes, Loren forgot how young her daughter was - clearly Carolyn's influence had developed a mature, clear-thinking, considerate child. Loren realised, with a jolt, that only two years now separated Lorna from the terrible years of becoming - _a teenager_! The leap to womanhood was just another step thereafter on the road to adult life. Loren was, once more, grateful to have survived the river and to have recovered to watch Lorna's growth.

Loren decided to keep *that* thought to herself, and concentrated on enjoying the birthday cake with her daughter and "the best guardian in the world". Suddenly, Loren had an idea as to what she could put on a gift sweatshirt for Carolyn.

 **Saturday, 24th May 2014**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **10:25hrs EST - first anniversary of the resurrection: end of Year one**

Carolyn had a big cheesy grin on her face as she carried in Lorna's cake which - in fairness - she had played a significant part in producing. Lorna had mixed the fruitcake for the body of the cake, Carolyn had supervised the baking, then Lorna had learned from Carolyn as the icing was mixed and then applied over the cake. A single candle sat in the middle of the cake, waiting to be lit; all oxygen supplies in the room were, as usual, shut off for the duration.

Tracy Manetti, her husband Mike and their two children were also present for the anniversary celebrations.

"My friends, I cannot express all of my gratitude for your love and support over eleven years, both during my coma and particularly since I awoke one year ago. I am amazed and humbled that you, Carolyn, would almost put your life on hold to bring up my daughter - I can never repay you for your time, effort, energy and love. But thank you, my friend". Loren handed over a bulky parcel labelled " _To Carolyn with thanks, Loren xxxx_ ". Carolyn opened the package and whooped with glee as she unwrapped a lovely white hooded sweatshirt with " _ **The world's best guardian**_ " flocked across the chest and " **Guardian #1** " across the shoulders on the rear.

"Thank you Loren; I needed something like this for horse-riding; I shall wear it on our next outing".

"Well, I thought long and hard about how to show you my gratitude for the fact that Lorna stands today as a testament to you and, in effect, your parenting skills. Thank you Carolyn, my dear friend". Both women had tear-swollen eyes by this point.

"Oh Loren, it has been my pleasure. This young woman has been an inspiration to me and has helped me to validate my selected career path since the Navy left me. You and I can both - independently and without competing - be very proud of her and the changes which she has brought to our lives" Carolyn responded.

Carolyn hugged Loren and both women cried - happy tears, Lorna noticed.

"Right, where is the next place on Lorna's visiting list and how is the planning progressing?"

"Well, we are off to Chicago next month. We are booked from Dulles into O'Hare for a long weekend in four weeks' time. I want to renew my acquaintance with Chicago from my Michigan days, as well as giving Lorna a taste of Chicago. So it will be the Sears tower and the riverboat Architectural tour, plus riding in from O'Hare on the 'L' trains and round the Loop into Downtown, then maybe a bit of retail therapy on the Magnificent Mile" Carolyn replied. "I can't wait".

As it happened, the trip across to Chicago in late June of '14 would coincide with some quite hot weather across the mid-West, which made cycling along Lakeshore Drive a bit of a survival exercise. This, in turn, merely required relief from the heat - achieved by making a diversion into Navy Pier for cool drinks en-route back to the hotel.

 **Monday, 26th May 2014 - Memorial Day**

 **Arlington National Memorial Cemetery**

 **Arlington, Virginia, 22211**

 **13:15hrs EST**

Carolyn and Lorna strode steadily towards Pete's headstone, marking the occasion when he was formally remembered by a grateful nation - and the woman for whom he had been everything during their five-month romance. Lorna's new shoes had been fastidiously polished, while Carolyn was, once more, a vision in black, as she strode to Pete's headstone and repeated the annual remembrance actions which she had undertaken a year earlier.

This year, she had selected a blood-red lipstick instead of the coral pink from 2013. She left her mark on Pete's headstone along with a pebble, just as in previous years. Walking away, she once more felt a lightening of her heart and an incredibly strong sensation of warmth and comfort. What was Pete's spirit lining up for her?

 **Friday, 4th July 2014**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **11:55hrs EST**

"Happy Independence Day" announced Carolyn as she and Lorna walked into Loren's room. Loren was sitting on her exercise bike, steadily building muscle as she headed onwards, through the second year of her recovery. They raised a glass of grape juice to the memory of George Washington, reviewed the travel plans for the upcoming week in Seattle, then picked up the list of souvenirs which Loren had asked them to obtain whilst they were visiting the Pacific Northwest.

 **Sunday, 6th July 2014**

 **American Airlines Admirals lounge, Dulles International Airport**

 **Chantilly, Virginia**

 **10:45hrs EST**

Loren and Lorna relaxed in the lounge, awaiting the call to board their flight to Seattle.

"We're booked into the SEATAC Airport Marriott, just a ten-minute walk east of the terminal and also with a courtesy shuttle bus every 15 minutes, so we have a good base for our exploration" Carolyn informed Lorna, sliding a copy of the itinerary, along with Lorna's boarding card, into Lorna's travel wallet which Tracy Manetti had given her. Lorna had already written down several items and questions for the trip and her laptop was an almost-permanent fixture on her lap as she prepared to travel across to the Pacific coast.

Boarding the flight, Lorna and Carolyn settled into their favourite First Class seats on the starboard side of the plane. This gave them a lovely view to the north as the plane flew steadily westwards. Some time after take-off, one of the stewards complimented Carolyn on " _your well-behaved daughter, because sometimes we get the occasional spoiled brat up here_ ".

Carolyn merely smiled; sure, Lorna's hair colouring and complexion complemented Carolyn's hair despite her actual parentage, but she knew that Lorna's deportment and manners, together with her intelligent, polite and considerate manner of dealing with people, were all down to her mentoring and guidance. Lorna was not the fruit of her loins, but she had moulded the original newly-born child into the developing young woman who sat beside her.

Relaxing back into her airline seat, Carolyn wondered, for the first time in some years, how her lost child might have turned out. She sighed - no point worrying over what was lost and could never be. She knew that Lorna was a tribute to her parenting skills - and handing Lorna on to Loren at some point would be a wonderful achievement for her. Dabbing away a tear, she gazed proudly at the 11-year-old seated alongside her as their flight headed westwards.

Alongside her as the plane flew onwards over the continental divide, Lorna had begun to realise the size and magnitude of her continent - backing up her geography knowledge from her school lessons with a clear view out of the airliner window. Flying across the continent (as opposed to just a "short hop" south to Orlando) drove home to her how large her country was.

Getting around Seattle on the excellent bus service (and the Light Rail) made use of the "ORCA" card a "no-brainer". The SEATAC Airport Marriott provided a comfortable base for their explorations. They had travelled far and wide (including a driving tour to the south, visiting Mount St Helens and spending a couple of days just over the border into Oregon with a visit to Portland). When they landed back into Dulles they agreed that their visit to Washington State, based around Seattle had imbued Lorna with an admiration for the great outdoors and the awesome power of Mother Nature in the Pacific north-west.

Lorna was amazed by the damage inflicted on the landscape by the 1980 eruption/disintegration of Mount St Helens and she was in awe of the wide Columbia River with its power stations and dams. After whale watching out among the Pacific islands beyond Puget Sound, she flew home to DC with a new appreciation of the phrase " _from sea to shining sea_ ".

When they checked in with Loren, she eagerly advised them that her daily cycling distance had extended by a half-mile. Loren now had the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in her sights for a future year.

 **Saturday, 26th July 2014**

 **American Airline arrivals hall, San Francisco International Airport (SFO)**

 **San Francisco, CA**

 **15:45hrs local**

The end of July saw our two intrepid travellers arriving into SFO. The quick trip to San Francisco would see Lorna spending three hours riding the streetcars. Carolyn had eventually grown weary watching the crews turning the streetcars around at each end of the line on several occasions and was happy to return each day to the Marriott. Walking up some of the sloping streets made Carolyn grateful for her purchase of well-made (and well-cushioned) trainers.

 **Monday, 28th July 2014**

 **JW Marriott Hotel, Union Square,**

 **515 Mason Street San Francisco, CA 94102**

 **21:45hrs local**

The quick day-trip down to San Diego and a run across to La Jolla had seen Lorna introduced to Harm and Sarah Mackenzie-Rabb (who had settled in San Diego to be closer to Harm's ageing mom Trisha and to give the Mackenzie-Rabb children a Californian upbringing after the time spent in London and in Naples with the FJA role).

Harm was particularly pleased to catch up on news regarding Loren, given his obsessive (and clearly erroneous) conviction, in late 2002, that she was carrying his brother's child. A group picture was taken, which Sarah emailed to Carolyn the following day. A framed copy from La Jolla dropped into Carolyn's mailbox a fortnight later. The late arrival back into the hotel, taken with the time difference between East Coast and West Coast, meant that the daily update to Loren would take place on the following morning.

The Mackenzie-Rabbs were keen to stay in contact and extended an open invitation to return to California in the future.

On returning home, it was agreed that, because the heat of August would keep everyone close to Washington, plans would be revised for the autumn and winter travel events whilst enjoying long cool drinks and ice creams at home.

 **Saturday, 16th August 2014**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **11:55hrs EST**

"OK, that completes the requirements for the first floor and the downstairs cellar; we'll review the plan for upstairs after lunch". Carolyn put down her pen and legal pad, flexing her finger after two hours of writing. She was glad to be helping Loren with the planning, but Loren's lawyer-trained mind had retained a serious attraction to detail!

Loren had embraced the project, reading up on a large body of information which helped those who had the task of designing and developing homes for those with disabilities. Although she expected (and was on track) to walk out of the facility some time in mid-2015, she had to plan realistically for a relapse and for long-term care in a real home rather than another hospital. These practical considerations dominated her thinking and drove her decision-making processes.

The construction plans for the site of her new home up on Old Dominion Drive included a weather-proof linked walkway between her home and Carolyn's adjoining property. The walkway was level-floored so that - if needed - Loren would be able to wheel herself between her home and Carolyn's home. Whilst she appreciated the preparation "for the worst-case scenario", Loren was determined to leave the facility as a wheelchair-free fit woman if at all possible. All the signs, as 2013 turned into 2014, had supported this hypothesis and Loren's progress through 2014 had consistently increased everyone's confidence in her likelihood of achieving this goal.

Loren's enhanced fitness levels had impressed all who had been involved in her rehabilitation. She was now able to walk a mile unaided; this 2014 attainment was a stark contrast to the first two months of physical therapy, which she had needed to get through before being able to walk to the door of her room in early August 2013. Loren had reached the staircase in the rehabilitation facility by November 2013 and had celebrated Christmas 2013 by joining the crew around the Christmas tree in Reception for carol-singing and mulled wine (which Loren had realised was her first taste of alcohol since the start of her pregnancy way back in 2002).

Loren's progress, in the first year to June of 2014, had enabled some long-term planning to be put in place ready for occupation of her new home during the second half of 2015. The building plot alongside Carolyn's home on Old Dominion Drive had been approved for development in August 2014 and would be cleared in the early winter (to minimise disturbance to any nesting lifeforms). An adapted colonial property - modelled along the lines of Carolyn's home but with more exercise, rehabilitation, fitness and full wet-room facilities on the ground floor and a swimming pool out at the rear of the house - was being constructed. The construction project plan was set to deliver the completed home, ready for Loren's release around May/June of 2015 after her gruelling two-year rehabilitation.

Carolyn's writing cramp would return before the planning was completed! Smiling to herself, Carolyn rejoiced in the return of a lively Loren - and, moreover, the transformation from the spiky, sarcastic young lawyer into someone who could justifiably be described as a good and deserving member of the human race.

 **Carolyn shook her head: sometimes, miracles never ceased to surprise her!**

 **777-777-777-777**

 **Sunday, 15th September 2014**

 **Stables block; Fort Valley Ranch**  
 **299 S. Fort Valley Road, Fort Valley, VA 22652**

 **09:25hrs EST**

"Lorna, please put your case over by the car and I'll load it while you head over to the stables".

Lorna and Carolyn had stepped out of their cabin at Fort Valley after a good night of sleep. This first major group expedition, for a weekend of horse-riding in the Shenandoah Valley, had been a great success. Looking ahead, the idea for a monthly visit after March of '15 (when the Shenandoah Valley emerged from its winter hibernation) was becoming firmly rooted in the calendar for the middle weekends of every month in 2015, bracketing Lorna's 12th birthday in May.

Video diaries and blogs from the adventures at the ranch were eagerly awaited - and viewed - by Loren as she continued her long recovery following her "resurrection". Her stamina had improved substantially during her long recovery and she was now beginning, in late 2014, the detailed planning of the move into her new home.

"Now then, did I leave anything in the room?" Carolyn stuck her head back into the lodge room, for one last check before she locked the door and loaded her car before turning in the key at reception.

"Auntie Carolyn, I'm going for the palomino today". Carolyn shook her head: how the colour of a horse could affect the riding experience was beyond her, but at least Lorna was enjoying the fresh air and had an interest in improving her riding skills - which graded her in the top ten percent of her peer group.

"I wonder if I really do have a future Olympian on my hands?" mused Carolyn, locking the car and heading down towards reception. If Lorna were truly to be exceptional, then Carolyn would have to devote far more time - and probably seek sponsorship - for the young horsewoman whom she was responsible for.

Carolyn wondered if Loren had any equestrian skills in her past - it was something that they had never discussed since Loren's awakening.

"Well, we haven't covered horse-riding and Olympics - I must ask Loren, especially if I need to plan a new stable-block on the new house" she decided.

"OK Aunt Carolyn, add this to the list for tonight's teleconference then let's get out on that horse. As Uncle Harm would say, we are burning daylight".

"God, I love this place" breathed Carolyn as she checked the tack for her horse.

The Shenandoah Valley horse-riding would become a regular part of the calendar for Carolyn and Lorna. Carolyn had ridden horses in her youth back home in Michigan and she was very happy to relive her childhood adventures in the saddle. The idea was also planted of making a trip to the United Kingdom at some future date, perhaps to view the London Horse Show in mid-December (between Thanksgiving and Christmas). Carolyn had filed "UK" away for future research and travel plans.

On this Sunday morning, the horses were saddled. The aches and pains of the Saturday cross-country ride were forgotten (a half-bottle of wine and a long soak in a welcome bath before dinner had seen to that). Carolyn had pulled on her jodhpurs and slid into her riding boots, zipping up the armoured chest-protector over her sweatshirt and buckling her riding helmet under her chin.

She stepped out of her cabin to greet Lorna. Following on from horse-riding weekends around the local area, the 11-year-old had welcomed the opportunity to go away for a riding weekend (and had already booked a three-day break for her 12th birthday in May 2015 as part of her extended birthday present); the Shenandoah Valley was in prime condition for this weekend away.

Carolyn had already agreed to the birthday ride plan for May 2015; she already knew that she wanted to get away for a break from the upcoming pressures of preparing for another Memorial Day and she knew that the horse-riding weekends always relaxed her perfectly. This was yet another part of her Auntie duties which she loved and looked forward to carrying out.

They moved towards the meeting point by the stable block. The two cabins had been cleared out, the suitcases were loaded into Carolyn's SUV and the two had checked out of their cabins at Reception. Lunch would be provided out on the trail, near the midway point of the day's ride for those spending all day in the saddle. A regular routine had been established, as Carolyn drove back to McLean, whereby an evening snack was usually procured on the road back to McLean during the 85-mile journey down I-66 and round I-495 to home.

Pulling on her riding gloves, Carolyn escorted Lorna down to the stable block, where their horses awaited them for the Sunday ride. Checking the harnessing and the saddles, they mounted up. Forming up in pairs, the large group of riders set off towards the South Fork river course, to start the day's ride. Carolyn, following behind Lorna, was increasingly impressed by how well the young horsewoman was developing her equestrian skills. Whilst it might be that joining the 2016 USA Olympic equestrian team might be a little ambitious, she saw no impediment to a 17-year-old Lorna riding for her country in the 2020 Olympics (or perhaps more likely a 21-year-old Lorna competing in the 2024 Olympics).

For Carolyn, horse-riding had always been a part of her relaxation, from her childhood days in Michigan. Discovering that Lorna also enjoyed horses had been an added bonus as she had been building her relationship with her ward. Her return to the saddle had re-acquainted Carolyn with her love of the outdoors and she was delighted that Lorna evidently shared the passion. A further bond was created between aunt and ward during the two years following Lorna's 10th birthday.

The palomino alongside her was being ridden by a gentleman of similar age to Carolyn. Over the preceding two months, Carolyn had noticed him saddling up a pony for a young horsewoman who looked to be slightly older than Lorna but was now riding alongside Lorna's pony. The two girls, who had been paired by the riding instructors on arrival, appeared to have hit it off and were conversing avidly as their ponies moved along the path.

As the horses approached an incline down into the valley, Carolyn held back to avoid crowding the younger riders, gripping the saddle with her jodhpur-clad thighs before she piloted her horse down onto the meadow alongside a bend in the river. All the riders dismounted and, after hobbling their horses, congregated around the tables which had been laid out around the fire-pit, which was issuing lovely aromas of warm cooking food. Lorna sought out Carolyn and introduced her guardian to "Lizzie" - the young girl who had been riding alongside her. Despite standing a half-head taller than Lorna, Lizzie turned out to be the same age as Lorna.

In turn, Lizzie introduced Carolyn and Lorna to her father David - the gentleman who, as it happened, had ridden alongside Carolyn. After the customary handshakes, the foursome drifted towards the food tables to stock up on picnic items. With plates filled and water glasses full, the two younger riders scampered off to find a seating spot, leaving Carolyn and David to walk slowly behind them.

"I'm getting to the stage where she makes me tired just watching her energy levels; as a single parent, I feel that I have to keep up with her to honour her mother's memory" remarked David.

Carolyn sympathised: "Yes, but I am so glad that she and I discovered a mutual interest in horse-riding, because it encourages us to get out into the fresh air. I spend long enough in offices and on client premises, plus we have both spent long enough, over the years, breathing indoor air at the long-term care facility where her mother has been since Lorna was born".

Somehow, Carolyn just felt that David was a receptive listener and it made sense to lift, just slightly, the curtain to her back-story; she realised that she felt secure and relaxed in the presence of this kindly man.

"Hmm, well it sounds like a story there about Lorna's mother - sister, cousin or lover?" David asked.

Carolyn snorted as she took a sip of water. "Definitely not the latter! No, just an unfortunate co-worker initially who was attacked and ended up in a long-term coma whilst she was pregnant with Lorna. We were all military lawyers back then, so I drew the short straw (well, actually I guess that I broke the cardinal military rule of ' _never volunteer_ '!) to act as guardian for Lorna as I didn't have any children of my own, plus to be frank it was a welcome distraction in late 2003, just after my Marine had died and I had miscarried. Fortunately her mother emerged from the coma last year after 10 years in the twilight zone, so _her_ rehabilitation continues and we are - all of us - in a good place".

Carolyn took off her riding gloves to handle her food and she noticed that David's eyes tracked automatically to her left hand, noticing her "wedding" ring. He appeared to take this as a sign to make up his own mind, because he responded to her brief life story with a simple question: "So, how long were you and your Marine married?"

"That's a fair question and I can see you reading the signs. Pete and I never married; we were together for around five months during the summer of '03 whilst Loren (Lorna's mother) was first in her coma; indeed, Pete was the guy who had pulled her from the Potomac. But by the time I had realised I was pregnant with his child, he had deployed and then he was killed. I caught a chill at his funeral in Arlington and lost our baby when I miscarried later that day. When his Mom died in '06, she bequeathed me her wedding ring and it just seemed right to wear it in his honour; I also always wear something black every day in his honour." She paused. "And that concludes a brief summary of the one great true love of Carolyn Imes". She smiled nostalgically. "How about you, if you don't mind sharing by way of full exchange? I see you still wear your wedding ring".

David leaned back and sighed. "Amanda and I met at Med school. She was going to serve her country and so she had always intended to go for emergency medicine whereas I had targeted orthopaedics or cardiology - eventually I gave up on bones and concentrated on the heart. We married two years after we qualified and Lizzie arrived when Amanda was 35." He sighed again and looked out at Lorna and Lizzie as they chatted quietly over their lunch, a short distance away, before he continued. "Looks like we have both found ourselves literally 'holding the baby'; my late wife was killed near Fallujah a year after Lizzie was born, so I can appreciate what you have gone through. I wear my ring to honour Amanda's memory, but when (or if!) the right woman comes along, I know that Amanda will welcome my decision to remove my ring and to move forward. She and I had a saying: ' _life is for the living_ ' and I truly believe that. I guess that the hope is that Lorna's mum will return to full function in due course?"

"Oh yes, but by Lorna staying on with me as my ward, it means that Loren (her mother) can concentrate on getting herself well, whilst knowing that Lorna is safe with her guardian. We visit Loren almost every day (except when Lorna and I are away on this sort of adventure). Be in no doubt, Loren is a fighter and she is due out of the facility before next autumn, if she maintains her current rate of progress - which is why we are having her house designed to be built next door to mine up in McLean, ready for her release" replied Carolyn, sitting back on her outstretched hands and sunning herself in the warm sunlight. She tilted her head back, to get sunlight on her face below the visor of her protective riding helmet.

David looked across towards her, pondering his next statement as he plucked up the courage to make a suggestion. "So, let me be bluntly honest and express an interest in you, Carolyn. I shall either destroy this conversation and you'll up and walk away (in which case I will apologise in advance and live in regret for the rest of my life), or (as I very much hope) the conversation will continue".

Carolyn sat motionless for a moment as she considered David's words and then eased her body slowly back until she was resting with her elbows on the ground, positioning herself submissively below David's eye-line: "You don't see me running away, do you?" She gave David a lovely warm, welcoming smile as she removed her riding helmet and placed her gloves inside, then patted her hair back into place. She looked at him, coolly and calmly, with one eyebrow raised. "I suspect that, like me, you have an inquisitive teenager asking ' _why don't you go back out and date?_ ' every time they see you looking at the photograph of your late lover?"

"Oh, yeah, ain't that the truth". David nodded, sat back and eyed Carolyn speculatively. "God, you are *so* right - and worryingly accurate in describing an angst-ridden teenager who wants their lone parent to have a 'friend'. Do you include mind-reading in your lawyer training?" He laughed, then continued. "Look, here is an idea and feel free to shoot me down in flames. I have a cardiologists' convention to attend, six months from now in March next year, and after ten years on my own I would like to solicit the company of an attractive, vivacious, intelligent lady - with, of course, no expectations beyond companionship and a dance partner. Please tell me that you can dance?" he added.

"Oh yes. Military training - formal dancing is part of the syllabus - but it will cost you a pair of shoes for me" Carolyn replied. "So would it be just the four of us - that is, you, me and the girls? No mothers-in-law lurking out back?"

"No, I promise just the four of us - unless Lorna has a sister?" Carolyn shook her head and David continued to outline his idea "OK; I'll cover the cost of any additional flights because you would be my guests and I'll get the event organisers to schedule an additional suite of course - hopefully a suite located alongside ours. I presume that the idea does not frighten (or worse, offend) you?"

He sat back, eyeing Carolyn nervously and waiting for her response.

Carolyn leaned towards him, smiling as she assessed his very civil offer. Something about this man was affecting her in a way that she had forgotten - or ruthlessly suppressed - since Pete's death in 2003. "Well David, that is the first invitation I have received in several years. All my friends know that I basically withdrew from life when Pete was killed. Looking after and supporting Lorna has been my life's work for some 10 years now, and it has been a useful and excellent distraction from my grief, plus my work keeps my busy. But if all goes to plan this year with Loren, I may have more time on my hands. So, rest assured that I am neither frightened nor offended. Heck, why not! But to show that you are serious, the four of us need to go out and choose a gown for me (I presume that there will be a final night ball at the convention?) and I need to get some smart outfits for Lorna - how about some time early in November?"

"Oh yes, there will be a Ball - one must have a tax-deductible final networking event on the last night of every conference - the IRS expects nothing less! I also have quite a good eye for choosing ladies' outfits - even though I may be out of practice - so I would like to offer my opinions when we go shopping. Might I please request the pleasure of being allowed to choose a gown with you?".

Carolyn paused, mouth agape, then started nodding to David. He smiled and continued: "so is that a yes or at least a very strong maybe?"

"Yes David, it's a 'yes' as in definite so let us get the dates into my diary. Let's discuss the logistics after we speak to the girls. I guess that next year, like me, you will be in Arlington on Memorial Day?"

David thought for a second, realised the importance of the date and then he nodded. "Yes, I always attend Amanda's grave on Memorial Day, also on the anniversary of the day that she died and her birthday. Lizzie and I also often visit on Lizzie's birthday in March as well".

Carolyn continued: "Good - you and I have the same traditions, because I have a similar visiting schedule for Pete's grave in Arlington. OK, let's all go to this cardiology event as a foursome, even if you do just want a companion and a babysitter for Lizzie". She smiled once more to convey the humour in her previous comment and to remove any potential sting from her humorous "babysitting accusation" as to David's real motivation in inviting her and Lorna to come along. There was something about this widower that spoke to her, directly into her heart.

David placed his clasped hands over his heart in as though he had been mortally offended, but smiling broadly. "I suspect that Lizzie and Lorna will enjoy the family activities which the organisers always put on for family members - of any age. I shall merely state that I believe that the 'spouses' will enjoy every opportunity to network when off the leash. I'll get the programme emailed across to you and we'll tag a couple of days on for travel and sight-seeing in the UK either side of the conference."

Carolyn held out her business card. "I like the way you plan, Mr David cardiologist. Now, as we are exchanging our contact details, how do we break the news to our offspring?"

"Leave that with me, Carolyn. Oh, I didn't tell you where the convention is being held".

No you didn't". Carolyn leaned in close. "So tell me, Mr Cardiologist, where are we all going in early March of '15?"

"London".

"Hmm, London Ontario or the real-real London?"

"The real-real London, as in the 2012 Olympics, Mother Country, Queen Elizabeth, Big Ben tower, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Changing of the Guard, red buses, driving on the wrong side of the road etc". David's heart was singing at the acceptance of his offer by this vibrant woman who, like him, had refrained from romantic activity since the death of her beloved. He was beginning to harbour high hopes that this could be the start of something wonderful, but he didn't want to presume anything.

Carolyn smiled: "I suspect that the Brits would counterclaim that they are driving on the right (i.e. correct) side of the road. It was originally something to do with holding a whip when driving a carriage, as I recall from some dim and distant conversation with a British exchange officer. OK, I'm up for a transatlantic trip. I'll need to arrange a passport for Lorna, but I can hand that task to our RLSO". David looked blank for a moment, then he understood the meaning of the acronym when Carolyn explained that she was referring to a Legal Services Office.

"Actually Carolyn, you have reminded me that I have to do the same task for Lizzie; she hasn't left the continental USA since she was born and I need to get that passport processing started tomorrow".

The two adults called their respective youngsters across. On hearing the news about London, Lorna and Lizzie simply expressed a loud "YES!" simultaneously and high-fived each other before hugging the two adults. David and Carolyn exchanged a warm glance: approval of the kids - check!

The riding group leader summoned everyone back together for the route briefing for the start of the return ride (actually the next part of the loop, returning to the stables a few hours later).

 **Sunday, 15th September 2014**

 **Car park; Fort Valley Ranch**  
299 S. Fort Valley Road, Fort Valley, VA 22652

 **15:50hrs EST**

"Carolyn, Lorna; please lead on; we shall follow you to Gainesville". David had loaded Lizzie's kit into the trunk of his Range Rover and was ready to set off.

David and Carolyn had exchanged business cards and then (because everyone had checked out of their rooms after breakfast that morning and were ready to travel) agreed to meet up for a meal in Gainesville, diverting onto the SR-55 to reach the town centre, before later rejoining the I-66 on the way back to DC. A quick internet search by the girls resulted in an agreement to meet at the Grafton Street Pub, just off the Lee Highway in the Gateway complex.

"Now, do not get too serious about believing that this is what a real British pub looks like - remember we shall see the real thing in March" cautioned Carolyn. Lorna just smiled and dived into the menu, with Lizzie mirroring her enthusiasm for food.

The menu contained plenty of options to meet every range of diet, so there was no room left for pudding as the four satisfied diners stood up from the table and staggered across to the parking lot where they bade farewell and headed off to their respective homes.

 ** **Monday 16th September 2014****

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **04:32hrs EST**

During the night following Shenandoah, Carolyn's sleep was disturbed by some quite racy dreams; accustomed to sleeping in the nude under warm bedding, she woke up sweating, with the bedding in disarray and her hands playing with a part of her body which had lain dormant for many years.

 **Could she be ready to love again? Was this the right man? What could go wrong? Should she risk opening the armour around her heart? Was it worth the risk of being hurt again? What would Loren think?** **What would Lorna think? More to the point, what would the spirit of Pete think - although she was certain that she had felt warmth during her last Memorial Day visit to Arlington Cemetery.**

With all these thoughts buzzing around her head, she sat up and gave herself a gentle head slap. She walked quietly through the house and as she stood in the kitchen at stupid o'clock, boiling some milk to make another cup of hot chocolate. This only seemed to light another fire in her belly and so it was a rather tired Carolyn Imes who rose to face the day on the Monday morning. She was *definitely* looking forward to her next outing with David - to start choosing a ball-gown!

 **777-777-777-777**

 **End Ch. 7 - "Carolyn spreads her wings"**


	8. Back in the saddle

**Chapter 8: "Back in the saddle"**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** ** _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_** **" disclaimer. To this, I now add "** _ **apart**_ ** _from any character created by myself_** **".**

Now, on with Chapter 8 - we are following Carolyn in late 2014 (after meeting David) and into 2015, alongside Loren's continuing recovery. Carolyn starts considering what else life may have to offer her.

 **888-888-888-888**

 **Start Ch. 8 - Back in the saddle.**

 **Saturday, 4th October 2014**

 **Best Western Ruby's Inn, 26 South Main Street**

 **1000 S State Hwy 63, Bryce Canyon National Park,**

 **Bryce Canyon, UT 84764-8001**

 **09:45hrs local**

"OK, ready for the National Park, Lorna?" Carolyn had checked the lacing on Lorna's hiking boots and was confident that their weatherproof clothing was ready for a day in the great outdoors. Picking up their small day-packs, guardian and child headed out to the parking lot. A small layer of snow needed to be cleared from the windows and the roof of the vehicle.

Carolyn slipped the rented Jeep into "Drive" and headed out of the parking lot, heading south towards the gateway to Bryce Canyon national park. Her programme of visits to various parts of the Continental USA was already giving Lorna a good view of the country. Parking up beyond the Ranger Station, Carolyn and Lorna hiked around the rim of the canyon to Bryce Point before returning later in the day and heading up to Inspiration point, where they looked out into the main natural amphitheatre of Bryce Canyon and the "Silent City" of limestone hoodoos.

Saturday 4th October 2014 at Bryce Canyon saw the first snows of winter at the mountain elevation, blanketing the limestone hoodoos with a white coat and smothering, even further, any sound. Heading out into the canyon national park from the hotel at Ruby's Inn, Lorna had reached Bryce Point and marvelled at the near-silence. Carolyn, having grown up surrounded by the hustle and bustle of great metropolitan cities, was also impressed by the silence of the air around her.

Hiking in from the car park, around the canyon rim in the snow, gave Lorna an appreciation of the wild, rugged landscape of the American southwest.

The next day, an aeroplane ride across Monument Valley and the "Four Corners" landmark, impressed the young lady once more with the size of her country and the range of climates and territories which made up the CONUS.

Lorna was bubbling with excitement as she telephoned her mom that evening to report on the weekend's activities. Loren was so pleased to hear the excitement in her daughter's voice and she rejoiced, once more, in the selflessness of Carolyn for making the time to take Lorna on these tours, whilst her (Loren's) health continued to improve and her stamina grew following her resurrection some 18 months earlier.

She knew (with growing certainty every day) that, one day, she would be repeating these journeys on a "mother and daughter" trip. She was so grateful to the flame-haired attorney for her time, dedication and energy and she truly hoped that Carolyn would find love once more at some point - if only as a reward for her selfless dedication to the cause of bringing up Lorna.

If only Loren had known what had transpired in the Shenandoah Valley in September, she would have been less worried about Carolyn's (apparently non-existent) love life.

 **Tuesday, 7th October 2014**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:25hrs EST**

Carolyn had a big cheesy smile on her face as she walked into the sunlit dayroom for her daily update visit to Loren. A telephone conversation with David during the previous evening had confirmed that he was very interested in her - and the possibilities of developing their friendship.

The pictures from Bryce Canyon were loaded on the laptop and ready for projecting on the plasma screen. Both she and Lorna had been tired on the Monday evening, so the "show and tell" session had been postponed to the Tuesday. Loren had, of course, understood and was happy to wait another day for the pictures. She was now regularly "terrorising" (their words) the staff in the centre as she exercised in the corridors in her wheelchair; her walking stamina was also improving and she regularly perambulated around the centre as her exercise programme continued and extended her range and endurance.

Carolyn and Lorna had travelled in as usual for the evening visit. Lorna hung back as they entered the room. Loren realised that something was different. Loren looked at Carolyn's face and immediately twigged that something was different. "Come on Counselor, I haven't seem that smile since Mic Brumby went back to Australia in 2001".

Carolyn had always despised the Aussie lawyer, who had not always maintained his 100% focus of his attentions on "Mac" MacKenzie in the JAG offices during his exchange posting to the USA. She had nicknamed him "Fingers" on one occasion - in honour of his wandering hands! On more than one occasion, Carolyn had considered coming in to the JAG office in her uniform trousers in place of her customary skirt, which she preferred to wear as it emphasised her legs - one of several parts of her body of which she was very proud. On leaving the Navy and setting up in private practice following the miscarriage, her style had always tended towards the "skirt-suit" rather than the Clintonesque "pant-suit". Even as a celibate woman, Carolyn still appreciated the occasional admiring glance from a good-looking man; just because she was celibate by choice after losing Pete, that fact did not mean that she was dead from the neck down. Fortunately, Brumby had spent most of his time in JAG pining over Mac - who seemed to be more than capable of handling the Aussie groper.

"Loren, I don't know how it happened, after all my years of guarding my emotions, not getting involved, keeping Pete's memory pure - but I think that I may be falling in love again" Carolyn gushed, then paused, hand over her face, excited like a ten-year old on hearing that Father Christmas had made a double delivery. The secret was out!

Loren stood up from her dayroom chair, resting on her walking frame and hugged her best friend. "Carolyn, that is just such brilliant news! Come on, don't leave it there - tell me all the details". They remained hugging as Carolyn began to impart her momentous news.

"Well, his name is David, he is a widower and his daughter Lizzie is the same age as Lorna which is how they met when they went riding at the stables. Lizzie and Lorna are firm friends with each other at the stables, so he and I got chatting - initially just as parents - on the trip last month to Shenandoah. Then we realised we have similar backgrounds in terms of deceased former military officers as our former partners - his wife was killed near Falluja".

"I think I am envious of your good fortune in meeting David - but also massively happy for you Carolyn, my dear friend. So, what is the next step?"

"We're meeting in town for dinner next Thursday evening and to start exploring where this might go, but then he went and invited us to accompany him and Lizzie to London (England) in March for a cardiologists' convention. He's offered to buy me a ball-gown for the final night's Ball and I've said yes! All I had originally asked for was just a pair of dancing shoes. Oh Loren, I can't think straight - *me*, after all these years!" Carolyn's heart was singing; Loren reached out a calming hand and took her wrist.

"Well, Carolyn I didn't expect ever to say this to you, but you'd better get your legs waxed on Wednesday".

"Too late, I am ahead of you. I had them done this morning - stepped out from the practice for two whole hours of beautification. Oh God Loren, I cannot believe this is happening, after so many years. I am so happy - and nervous as well, of course".

Carolyn's eyes were shining and Loren offered up a quick prayer, thanking her deity for watching over Carolyn.

"So, do you want me to distract Lorna on Thursday or will you leave her on guard at home?"

"Ah, good thought - I will need to arrange a taxi for her, to bring her here to see you, then another taxi to collect her later and run her home - the practice has a trustworthy and well-vetted cab firm on retainer".

"Thanks for doing that - I don't think that I could bear an evening alone after these two years with you guys visiting faithfully since I woke up last year; I shall be jealous! I am SO grateful to you, Carolyn, for all that you have done. Now, go and have fun, my friend - and that is an order from Loren - my first order in over 11 years!"

Carolyn gave a mock salute and replies "Yessir, ma'am, Lt Singer". She paused: "Hold on - I outranked you when we were in the Navy!" The two friends laughed.

All three then clustered around the plasma screen to watch the display of pictures from Bryce Canyon.

 **Thursday, 16th October 2014**

 **DC-Metro station Metro Place, central Washington DC**

 **18:15hrs EST**

Carolyn had travelled in on the Metro to meet David at the end of his Thursday afternoon consulting session. They shook hands on meeting and then David led Carolyn to one of his favourite restaurants a few blocks away. The two of them had decided (via a couple of previous phone calls) that a quiet "dinner for two" was an ideal way to start getting acquainted and to have joint plans prepared for London and for next year's Memorial Day weekend which would see a joint visit by Carolyn, David, Lorna and Lizzie to the Arlington graves of Carolyn's Pete and David's Amanda.

Meeting in the restaurant also gave them a chance to start (without teenage interference) the process of planning the London event in detail and getting started on the process of getting to know each other as they sat on a chaise-longue in the reception area of the restaurant awaiting the move to their chosen table. Carolyn had handed the receptionist her Bottle-green coat and sat looking down, once more, at the pointed toe-caps of her polished boots. She had taken to wearing slightly higher heels than before, which meant that she was able to stand up closer to David's height and look him in the eye when they met. By this stage, she was regretting not having broken in the new boots by walking in them around the office for a few days. Too late - she would have to sort out a foot massage when she returned home.

"Well Carolyn, would you allow me to trump your request for dancing shoes in advance of London by offering to buy you a ball-gown as well as the shoes?" was David's opening question. Carolyn thought for a moment, before announcing "well, you probably need to see more of my body before you make an offer like that, young David". David's gaze deliberately lingered as he looked her up and down, from the polished toecaps of her boots to where her leather-clad legs disappeared under the hem of her skirt, around her waist where her sweater sat, neatly detailed by a thin belt, over the swell of her breasts and up to the top of her turtleneck.

She returned his gaze coolly, but her composure cracked at his response: "Yes Carolyn, but remember I have seen (and admired) you in jodhpurs all day recently on the ride!".

"Drat - busted!" she replied and they both laughed. Any remaining tension was broken as they stood up and walked, relaxed, to their table. The evening flowed steadily and enjoyably.

Their first actual evening "date" went extremely well and each of them wanted more. Both David and Carolyn thought of items for the upcoming London trip which would have been forgotten had they not met and worked methodically through the planning process - five months was not a long time in their busy lives, especially with Christmas in the way. David was enchanted by Carolyn's quick mind and eager smile. Carolyn was already sinking into the deep pools of his blue eyes.

They agreed that they would travel out to London on the Friday or Saturday night before the conference in March, arriving into London's Heathrow Airport ideally on the Saturday morning after the Friday overnight flight from the East Coast. For the return flight, they planned to leave one week later, on the Sunday afternoon service into Dulles, meaning that they would be back home into the USA in time for a full night of sleep before the Monday morning. By exploiting the transatlantic time difference, this would ideally give them the first Saturday, the final Friday evening, the whole of the final Saturday and most of the final Sunday until lunchtime for their exploration of London, bracketing the actual dates of David's conference.

As they parted, Davis and Carolyn exchanged chaste kisses at the Metro station before they headed out their separate ways. Carolyn was still on " _Cloud nine_ " when she arrived home (to find Lorna sitting up, like an expectant parent awaiting a wayward college student, having returned earlier by taxi from the facility). Carolyn was already planning to bring Lorna on an additional trip to the UK in the December of 2014 or 2015 for the International Horse Show at Olympia in London. They chatted for several minutes over steaming mugs of cocoa before Carolyn shoo-ed Lorna off to bed before she settled down with a lovely hot foot-spa to soothe her aching feet before she headed off to bed herself.

 **Friday, 24th October 2014**

 **AVIS car rental depot, Boston Logan Airport**

 **1 Harborside Dr, Boston, MA 02128, USA**

 **20:15hrs EST**

Carolyn signed out the car and quickly stashed the luggage in the trunk before heading into the city for the Marriott Courtyard for an overnight sleep. She was glad that she had booked a separate room for Lorna, because she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, although she awoke first the following morning. She had arranged a quick weekend in Boston, to sample the city on the Saturday and then enjoy a quick drive through the fall colours outside the city on the Sunday before returning to Logan for the flight home. In fairness, Carolyn dozed during the bus tour around Boston (waking for the beer and oysters outside Faneuil Hall) but was ready for the scenic drive on the Sunday morning. For some reason, David had occupied much of her thoughts since Thursday evening!

She and Lorna agreed that Boston in late October - although the New England leaf fall colours *were* impressive - was honestly almost matched by the fall colours of leaves on their doorstep around DC. Their conclusion was that DC was "good enough" and especially if you factored in the travelling disruption and cost of getting to Boston then onwards to Vermont. Nonetheless, they planned a longer return trip to include Faneuil Hall and a two-day expedition to Vermont (along with a drive up the Maine coast to Bar Harbour and a Halloween trip right around to Providence on Rhode Island) for a future date - these were tasks for 2015 (or later).

The return flight, back from Boston into Dulles, passed in a blur and they were settled back home by midnight on the Sunday night. Carolyn's staff already had her booked for a delayed start to work on the Monday. Gratefully, she sank into a dreamless sleep, pleased to be back in her own bed.

 **Friday, 31st October 2014**

 **Courtyard by Marriott New York JFK Airport**

 **145-11 North Conduit Avenue Jamaica, NY 11436 USA**

 **19:55hrs EST**

Carolyn checked in and breathed a sigh of relief that she and Lorna had eaten in Washington's Reagan National Airport before the hop south to New York. The late decision to spend Hallowe'en in the Big Apple was probably going to leave her tired, but it meant that she had completed the "Grand Tour" and Lorna would have a good idea of the USA. Three weekends away in one month was quite a test of her stamina which she hadn't undertaken since she hit her mid-forties, but the enjoyment on Lorna's face had made all the planning, travelling and hotel nights worthwhile. It also, she realised with a girlish giggle, meant that she could now plan to spend some time getting to know David properly during November, whilst leaving Lorna to spend more time with Loren in the evenings, refining the plans for Loren's new home. Carolyn smiled to herself - she reckoned that everyone should be happy!

Lorna and Carolyn headed to drop their bags in their adjacent rooms, met in Lorna's room to run a quick videoconference back to Loren, then fell asleep. When they awoke the next morning, they were ready for a good breakfast before they hit the tourist trails around Manhattan.

New York was brash, noisy and impressive; riding the Staten Island ferry, visiting the Ground Zero memorial sites and museum (Carolyn marvelled that, to Lorna, this was "merely" a history lesson - as indeed it was for most millennials who had been too young to remember the actual disastrous Tuesday morning in September 2001). The view from the new WTC viewing gallery was impressive (but actually Carolyn hankered back to the view from the John Hancock Tower in Chicago - looking east over the lake, west towards O'Hare airport, south towards Soldier Field and north towards Milwaukee).

The return flight into Reagan National went smoothly and Carolyn was tucked up in bed by midnight on the Sunday. Once more, a delayed Monday morning start in her practice awaited her - one advantage of being "The Boss", she realised!

 **Thursday, 6th Nov 2014**

 ** **DC-Metro station Metro Place, central Washington DC****

 **18:00hrs EST**

Carolyn had travelled in on the Metro as usual - David had managed to escape slightly early from his final slot of his Thursday afternoon consulting lists.

They hugged on meeting and then Carolyn took the lead, guiding David to a restaurant which one of her clients had recommended. In the spirit of equality, David was very happy to follow the lead of his flame-haired Ariadne as she guided him faultlessly to the door of one of Washington's premier seafood restaurants.

Their topics of conversation covered Lorna, Lizzie's school progress, Loren's house designing work and what David described as " _a real biggie_ ". "Carolyn, how would you and Lorna care to join us (Lizzie and me) for Thanksgiving?"

"David that would be lovely. I can get our turkey donated to a homeless shelter which will do some good, or shall we compare turkey sizes and then make a decision on which will make up the donation? So, we'd be looking at three weeks from today on the 27th? In principle yes, but I need to work with Loren - Lorna's mum as you may recall?"

David nodded: "Oh yes, of course. As a doctor, I am accustomed to helping plan patients' home visits - and after heart work, there is a constant tension between ' _get them home to recuperate faster_ ' and the need to ' _keep them close whilst the first phase of surgery heals_ ', so I can - and I do - completely understand that you need to fit in with the recovery programme for Lorna's mother. But let's work on the principle of ' _it will happen_ ' then deal with every impediment - what do you say?"

He flashed what was fast becoming Carolyn's favourite-of-all-time smile and her heart melted: saying "yes" was a very easy decision and, Carolyn realised, could well develop into a habit.

"OK, now to tell Lorna". The 11-year-old squeaked with delight and announced that she would be comparing notes with Lizzie the moment the call ended. Terminating his call to Lizzie and placing his cell-phone in his jacket, David relaxed and looked at Carolyn: "I fear that you and I have a well-matched pair of troublemakers in our lives" he observed. Carolyn took great pleasure in agreeing with his assessment of the situation.

Thanksgiving would be upon them soon; getting Loren set up, supported and signed out for a visit would require effort; but the determination was there; this would be a great piece of recuperation for Loren - a home visit on Thanksgiving.

Both Carolyn and David kissed chastely farewell at the end of the evening, knowing that each felt confident in the other and that their younger responsibilities had endorsed the friendship. An enjoyable Thanksgiving Day lay ahead.

 **Thursday, 27th Nov 2014 - Thanksgiving Day**

 ** **David's home, Washington DC (sort out the address *******

 **18:00hrs EST**

Their plans to "spring" Loren from the facility for Thanksgiving hit a bump in the road. Because Loren was showing slight signs of a chest infection in the days before Thanksgiving, Carolyn had arranged to redirect "her" turkey as the centrepiece of a Thanksgiving meal to be delivered to the staff at the long-term care facility, which was enjoyed in the staff canteen with Loren present as a "guest of honour". Loren was able to walk down to the staff canteen to join in and she had little trouble in digesting one of the highest calorie intakes which she had consumed since her swim back in 2003. This was a major step forward on her road to recovery, and she had stated that she understood completely why Carolyn and Lorna were heading out afterwards, to David's home for their own Thanksgiving meal.

Loren didn't feel neglected for a moment; she was truly happy that Carolyn seemed to be falling for a lovely widower - and she knew that David was fortunate to have tempted the chaste, celibate Carolyn down from her chosen (and long-term) shelf. Loren anticipated great things for Carolyn and David (and the two young ladies) during the coming year. She realised that the conference in London, upcoming in March, could be the catalyst for some great news. Settling back into her room, she started reading her book as she relaxed to digest her turkey feast.

Carolyn arrived at David's home and, as she applied the parking brake, Lorna hopped out of the car to ring the bell. Lizzie answered the door (David was in the kitchen with his hands full) and the two girls hugged tightly in the entrance lobby as Carolyn closed the outer door. The two visitors removed their shoes and boots then wandered through the house to the rear kitchen. David, carving knife in hand as he dismembered the turkey, waved the knife at a silver ice-bucket which stood, surrounded by four champagne flutes, in a silver tray.

"Carolyn; the guest rooms are made up; I propose we go "Black Friday" shopping tomorrow, so may I spring on you the invitation for you and Lorna to stay over tonight and enjoy the wine today?" Carolyn shot a quick glance at Lorna, who raised a thumb in a sign of approval.

Carolyn walked over to him, stood on tip-toe (reflecting the absence of her heels), kissed him and replied simply: "That's a good idea David; fortunately Lorna and I both have sea-bags permanently packed in the trunk of the car, so we graciously accept your kind invitation". Lizzie volunteered to go retrieve the sea-bags with Lorna and then Lizzie led her up to the two guest suites upstairs.

David beamed with happiness and Carolyn focussed on the champagne, serving four glasses of the sparkling wine before she offered David assistance with the meal. Pulling on an apron, she stood where he directed her and the two adults worked in cheerful, companionable silence as they prepared the meal.

Later in the evening, all four played several games of cards, before heading up to their allotted bedrooms by mutual consent. As they turned out the lights on the landing, David and Carolyn shared a kiss before separating to get a good night's sleep in their respective rooms ahead of "Black Friday".

 **Friday, 28th Nov 2014 - "Black Friday"**

 ** **David's home, Washington DC ******

 **07:02hrs EST**

Carolyn had slept through the night until her body informed her that a trip to the en-suite bathroom was needed. After that, she felt thirsty so decided to visit the kitchen in search of the coffee-maker. Pulling on a sweatshirt and jogging bottoms from her seabag, she padded down the main staircase and into the kitchen, where she quickly found the coffee, filter papers and coffee machine, which she put to work.

As the coffee-maker signalled its completion, she felt David's arms reach around her, resting on the kitchen worktop either side of her, as he murmured in her ear to seek her consent: "Darling Carolyn, may I please wrap you in my arms on this lovely morning dear lady?"

" _God, what a gentleman_ " she thought, before replying "Oh yes, of course, my lovely considerate, well-mannered man".

She edged forward until her body pressed against the work-surface, looking out through the kitchen window, then she turned around and slid her arms around David's back. Her heart was pounding - she could hear the blood coursing in her ears, yet this moment seemed just so perfect; she didn't feel threatened, she felt loved and she decided to give in to the messages that her body was sending to her brain.

She pulled David closer and squeezed her hands on his buttocks. She noticed his gasp as his body made contact with her hips. She suddenly realised the reason for David's gasp - he was significantly aroused. She looked down knowingly, then raised her eyes once more to stare, coolly and calmly, into David's eyes. "Now then, we seem to have a body in need of relaxation; what would my doctor suggest that I do?"

David stared deep into her eyes: "Well, without wishing to appear presumptuous, I could suggest a good way of passing an hour or so - would you be interested in my suggested relaxation therapy game?"

As though in a dream, Carolyn nodded: "Lead me on, Mr Cardiologist Man". Their coffees sat, instantly forgotten, on the worktop as they strolled, arm-in-arm, out of the kitchen to David's bedroom.

As they passed one of the smaller guest rooms, David picked up a "Do Not Disturb" sign which had obviously been "liberated" (aka stolen) previously from an hotel somewhere. As he guided Carolyn into his bedroom, he placed the sign on the door handle and skilfully back-heeled the door closed. Standing at the foot of the bed, they looked into each other's eyes.

They kissed, this time deeper and more passionately, then Carolyn placed a manicured finger on David's lips: "David, I haven't done this in a while, so please be gentle and also let me re-learn anything that I have missed or forgotten".

He took her hand and kissed it once more, before raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Fear not Carolyn, I am also just as rusty as you are: but remember, we have waited a long time for this and I am prepared to wait a little longer if you are not comfortable".

"Well, I've not been with anyone since Pete and I do have very fond (and very satisfying) memories of him. Oh sorry, is it bad form to mention a previous lover?"

"Carolyn, if some people *do* think that, then I am not amongst that number; in truth, I am sure that Amanda is looking down on us right now and encouraging us. If it would make you more comfortable, I would be very happy to wait until you are ready; I am more than happy to just cuddle whilst you make up your mind."

"No David, I want to do this more than almost anything in the world. Now, what do you want to do about contraception - I've been off the Pill for over 11 years but I reckon I am safe this week plus I am in my 50th year and seem to be sailing through the menopause".

"OK Carolyn, I will follow your lead - it's your body and it is a woman's right to choose, so what do you want me to do; my regular health-checks at the hospital always come back clear; wanna make out like horny teenagers and see what happens?"

"Oh what the heck - come on, get naked and get into bed, David!" She lay back on the bed, looking up into his eyes with total trust in the man and in anticipation of what was to come.

He unlaced her jogging pants and eased them down over her hips and down her legs to reveal her naked body, showering kisses on her body as he followed the waist-band on its journey south. Carolyn felt her body moistening as her hormones ramped up. She lifted his sweatshirt off over his head and he returned the favour for her sweat-top, kissing her neck, throat and breasts. He raised himself up on his knees and she unlaced his sweatpants and pulled them down his legs, watching him spring free from the constriction of his clothing. Then Woman Carolyn took over from Lawyer Carolyn just as Man David took over from Doctor David. At some point she realised that she was being stretched, very slowly and very comfortably, before the fire in her belly roared through the rest of her body, from curling toes to flushed face as she crossed her ankles behind him and pulled him in deeper. She was lost - and so was David, lost in the depths of Carolyn Imes as she followed several millennia of human evolution and bounced him around the bed.

Several hours were to pass before Lorna and Lizzie saw their respective grownups; it was very clear, from tousled hair and sweaty bodies, that Carolyn and David had overcome their decade-long drought period! For some reason, the members of the household were quite late that day in completing their breakfast and it was almost lunchtime before they were heading out to the Mall for their "Black Friday" shopping.

Once they had reached the mall, Lorna and Lizzie led the queue for coffees in the Starbucks. David took Carolyn to one side and whispered in her ear: "I am happy to take this, between us, as slow, as fast and as far as you want; but please feel free to stay over the next few nights".

Carolyn twisted her head around and kissed him softly: "I have a better idea. How about, in the interests of balance and transparency, we stay on with you guys tonight and then you guys stay over at mine tomorrow night? I'll cook a Sunday roast and then we could choose to use our respective homes on Sunday evening, because I suspect that our young lady scholars have homework? Then we decide when we will be hooking up next. But please be in no doubts David - you have stoked my womanly fires and I am not planning on letting you go - although I must admit to feeling slightly sore just about now".

David leaned into her cheek and kissed her softly, uttering just one word: "Ditto". Their faces met and they deepened the kiss. From a short distance away, Lorna and Lizzie exchanged knowing glances.

 **Thursday, 4th December 2014**

 **DC-Metro station Metro Place, central Washington DC**

 **18:25hrs EST**

Carolyn and David met up for their next "date" after the excitement of Thanksgiving and the madness of shopping on "Black Friday". Starting with a coffee, they window-shopped for an hour, viewing several dress shops and outfitters which David had researched earlier on during the week - when he had also enlisting the assistance of his practice manager and the hospital's (female) director of finance for advice on Carolyn's dress for the London Ball in March. He had chosen these two women to advise him because they were always smartly-dressed and, from conversation he had overheard amongst the nursing staff, these two ladies knew about quality clothing.

David had taken both women into his confidence about his moving on with Carolyn (each woman, unprompted, had hugged him and said " _well, it's about damn' time, David_ "). When he asked them for ideas and suggestions for Carolyn's ball-gown both women had, independently, given him two out of the same three shop names and he had lined up an itinerary so that Carolyn could look at all three and rank them in a sense of preference before arriving at the restaurant for their evening meal.

The third dress-shop was still open (some stores operated a " _late Thursday_ " or " _late Wednesday_ " opening arrangement, to serve clients who worked long hours but did not venture into the city at weekends). He and Carolyn introduced themselves to the owner and, after outlining the event and some initial ideas, David had stepped back, headed to the seating area with its complimentary coffee machine and then he sat back quietly, biding his time until summoned for his opinion.

Carolyn summoned him after around ten minutes, to review (and discard) some ideas shown on the laptop in the design salon. After discarding three, both he and Carolyn simultaneously focussed on a shoulder-less ball-gown with an embroidered bodice and full skirt, which (depending upon her appropriate heel height) would show a two-inch gap above the floor. Carolyn had worn her high-heeled boots under her pant-suit for the journey, so she was able to model the dress to its planned height. David leaned in to zoom in on the design of the bodice and then he turned to the dressmaker.

"Do you have this in a deep green or bottle green in my lady's size please?" he asked.

Carolyn looked at David in amazement; this man had, unprompted, picked up on her favourite colour for complementing the shade of her hair. What other hidden depths did this man possess? She had spent over 11 years, hiding behind the armour of her business suits, buttoned-up jackets, silk scarves, long skirts and long boots (thereby shielding herself from the world), yet this man had seen through it all, to the woman beneath. She felt suddenly vulnerable yet exhilarated - especially when she realised what she was (not!) wearing beneath the dress! She looked at David and nodded her agreement as she headed back into the changing room to redress.

The salon owner smiled and replied. "Indeed we do and we can have the exact dress created in around two weeks for you to try a first fitting, based upon your accurate measurements". She looked directly at Carolyn: "I would suggest, because my daughter has used this particular ball-gown design and she has a similar figure to yours, that you consider supporting the dress with a proper corset. You would be surprised how many of my female customers support their dresses with some form of structure underneath".

Carolyn had never worn such a closely-fitting item of clothing and was unsure. "Well, I'm not so sure; to be honest, this is a new experience. I guess that my closest experience to a corset, in the Navy, was a Kevlar ballistic vest".

The salon owner looked at David, raised her eyebrows knowingly and replied: "Oh but what we are talking about is a far more snug-fitting experience - designed for your body and styled to support your curves. Come on, we need you back in that changing room".

The salon owner offered to let her try a fabric corset and produced a tape measure to start jotting down dimensions and measurements. Five minutes later, a suitably-sized corset (the sizing was described as " _better than 'close enough' to fit you_ ") had been located in the stock-room and was being proffered to Carolyn outside the fitting rooms. Supervised by the salon owner, Carolyn was soon stripping out of her jacket, blouse, undershirt and bra once more, standing in the fitting room and donning a simple t-shirt as a liner beneath the corset.

Carolyn was amazed at how light the modern corset structure was, how easily she was laced in by the dressmaker standing behind her and yet how impressive the results were as the corset re-sculpted her body. Tucking her (now un-needed) bra into her handbag, she looked down and realised that her view down to her feet was now obscured by her remodelled body, framed by her corset. She walked out, slightly self-consciously, for David's unbiased opinion. She looked slightly incongruous, with the lower half of a pantsuit and her normal heels, topped by a royal-blue brocade corset and t-shirt covered shoulders.

David's jaw dropped involuntarily. His stunned exclamation of "wow" carried clear across the Salon. The salon owner turned Carolyn round, and was about to explain the intricacies of the busk at the front and the lacing at the back, when David's knowledgeable comments made it clear that he was no stranger to handling a corseted woman. He sought Carolyn's permission to make a minor adjustment - she concurred - and he re-arranged two parts of the lacing as she stood tall and still. Finally, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said "perfect". Carolyn's heart leapt at the closeness of his hand - even through the material of the t-shirt. What was it about this man that spoke so directly to her spirit? She found herself blushing slightly - and cursed her mother for her ginger skin tone.

"Carolyn; I have a suggestion if you would grant me permission to increase your confidence in this outfit?". Carolyn nodded obediently, still absorbing the different sensations cursing through and around her body. David turned to the salon owner. "If my lady keeps this on for a half-hour, under her business suit jacket and dress blouse, might I please steal her away to the coffee-shop down the mall? I need her to walk, move and sit with confidence and then I can be certain that she will buy into the idea of wearing a corset under the ball-gown for the ball in London next March. I promise that we will be back before closing time, because we need to conclude the sale". He proffered his black Amex card which the couturier waved away with a simple " _please just bring me a latte_ ".

Carolyn was stunned into a momentary silence, her mind overloaded from several angles. There was the new sensation of being referred to as "my lady"; the unaccustomed feeling of support (and, to be fair, restriction) from her corset; plus the knowledge that she was about to be paraded in public with her body shaped as it had never before been shaped, albeit concealed under her normal suit jacket and blouse). All these sensations were overloading the normally level-headed attorney's brain as she automatically and unresistingly turned to walk to the fitting room to retrieve her blouse and jacket.

Buttoning up the blouse over her constricted body, she tucked everything into the waist-band of the trousers. She picked up her long jacket from the hanger in the fitting room, buttoned it closed and admired her profile in the long mirror outside the fitting room. She barely recognised the assured, upright woman who stared back at her. Even though she was outside her normal comfort zone, the outfit somehow felt just right - and only an expert on female clothing (or another similarly-dressed woman) was likely to work out what she was wearing underneath her suit jacket.

She walked out, tall and confident, straight up to David. Placing her forefinger gently on his chest in a slightly inquisitive pose, she looked into his eyes. he smiled back confidently, inviting her question. "OK, buster, you know your way round female fashion far better than any man I have known - what's the secret?"

David smiled and called over the salon owner; as she arrived alongside him, they reached out to one another and held hands. As they stood alongside each other, Carolyn realised that the man and woman in front of her shared the same, ever-so-slightly-lopsided, smile. "Carolyn Imes, I am guilty of keeping a very slight secret from you. Kindly allow me to introduce you so my (ever so slightly) older sister Danielle. Our late mother was a seamstress, couturier and corsetiere, so I grew up around, and with the maximum respect for, female bodies and female role models, as well as knowing how to do needle-point". He finished his "confession" with a deep-throated chuckle.

Carolyn drew in a deep breath to laugh loudly- and was stopped short by the constriction of the corset. "Well played mister. I bet your surgical stitching would put Danielle's cross-stitch needlepoint to shame. Well done and Danielle it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance so soon in the early * _days_ * of this burgeoning relationship".

She stood with her hands on her hips (appreciating the new sensation of the undergarment) and glared at David as she emphasised the word 'days' before she carried on in mock-anger: "Man, you are in trouble now. You owe me more than a coffee". David merely raised his hands in a pose of surrender, still smiling at having achieved complete surprise with his joke and the introduction to his sister. Holding hands, they walked around the salon to ensure that Carolyn was completely at ease. Danielle asked Carolyn to remove her jacket and blouse once more then made a couple of minor adjustments to the lacing, before pronouncing herself satisfied and releasing Carolyn to make her way out to the coffee shop once everything was buttoned up once more.

"You will need a further adjustment after around a half-hour - this is entirely normal as your body submits to the embrace of the corset, and remember that this particular model has not been built for your exact body"; she smiled at Carolyn: "but the next corsets will be a perfect fit!" She turned back to whisper to David as he and Carolyn prepared to leave the shop: "And talk to Carolyn about Wolfords".

Carolyn's brain barely registered the implications: more occasions - and more corsets (plural) and other items - clearly lay ahead!

The coffee shop which David suggested was two blocks away but within the overall confines of the shopping mall. Striding confidently to the coffee shop, Carolyn took a seat and David quickly purchased and brought over the coffees. He needed to brief her on details of the London trip and also to find out what additional sights Carolyn wanted to add to the itinerary. She thought briefly of adding in a hop to Ireland, taking in Shannon airport and the hop up the coast to Galway, but rapidly discarded the idea. Her time in the UK should be focussed on David, Lorna and Lizzie; anything about Loren's past and the 2002 pregnancy could wait - indeed, must wait - for Loren's recovery and her decision about informing Declan (or not - because it was *her* choice at the end of the day).

David leaned in to keep the conversation private. "OK, what do you think? I wonder, has my sister captured your interest?"

Carolyn blushed, then composed herself before answering. "OK, I had never considered this before, but actually wearing this makes me realise just how elegant that ball gown would look. But I haven't seen a price tag yet".

David took her hand. "I tell you what - let me propose a deal. You let me pick your outfit, from head to toe, for the Thursday night ball in London and the only thing it will cost you is your body. I'll provide everything at my expense - let me clock up the Amex reward points".

Carolyn picked up an aspect of the conversation which David hadn't realised: "So it will only cost me my body? OK, what did you have planned - exactly - for my body? Are you going to lock me into this corset and keep me secured for your exclusive pleasure?" Within the constriction of the unfamiliar corset, she was able to chuckle as David blushed crimson when the implications of what he had said finally struck home. He gasped apologetically.

"Oh my, I am such a klutz; so sorry Carolyn. Please forgive me?" Carolyn took pity on his "little boy lost" impression, with his lower chin quivering in mock-sorrow. For a moment, she was reminded of some of the faces which old Harmon Rabb had pulled across the courtroom, back in her JAG days. Then she burst out laughing and, on an impulse, she kissed him, then stood back and looked him in the eyes.

"Sorry David, I couldn't resist. OK buster, lay out for me what you have planned".

David began sketching in his notebook, styling Carolyn in pencil with the dress covering the corset and elegant heels on her feet; He sketched a possible hairstyle for her which used her hair in an elegant evening style which she had never considered before. She nodded approvingly, then drained her coffee cup and stood up.

"We probably should be getting back to Danielle, but before that I will need to practice and rehearse in this outfit - I want to feel comfortable and confident when I accompany you to the Ball. I presume that is your goal at the end of the day?"

"Oh yes, I want the honour of escorting you to the Ball and showing you off as the Belle of the Ball, Carolyn".

"OK, you had me at 'London' actually - the city is on my bucket list, so the chance to visit the city (and the country) with lovely company is far too good to miss. Whilst I admire your optimism, I would honestly expect a younger woman to be the 'Belle of the Ball' but I'll accept the compliment which that statement implied. But I must say I am very tempted - a full ball-gown outfit as a gift from a handsome widower and a week in that lovely city - how could I say no? OK, sign me up!""

David looked grateful as he paid the bill for the coffees and the two rose to walk back to Danielle.

Another question occurred to Carolyn: "What was the comment about Wolfords - or was it Walfords?"

"No, Wolfords with an "O" - an Austrian company who make the best hosiery in the world - including thigh-high stay-up stockings".

Carolyn looked askance at David. "You've been planning this for some time, haven't you? This isn't just a ' _came together in the last 15 minutes_ ' idea is it? So let me get this straight; I'm going to be trussed up like some Thanksgiving turkey in an outfit that you and Danielle will design, and paraded in front of bunch of cardiologists in some hotel in a strange city over in Europe?"

David looked slightly nervous: "Err, yes, that is what I am proposing - and the Brits would never accept that London is 'strange'!"

Carolyn put him out of his misery - she unleashed a magnificent, wide-mouthed smile and set his mind at rest as she replied: "OK, where do I sign? But I insist on some control on the choice of shoes".

"Granted. I actually want our young ladies to assist in that search, so that they are involved. However, may we agree that I own everything above your ankles - deal?". He held out his hand; Carolyn shook hands, to confirm the deal. "OK Mister Cardiologist Man, you own my body above the ankles". A frisson of pleasure ran through her, as she realised that she was yielding to this man whom she had barely known for three months. And yet, she felt safe, secure and, above all, totally loved.

She realised that she had willingly signed away her body for the first time since her teenage years - and even more willingly than when she let "Billy Six-pack" organise her participation in the high-school prom all those years ago in Michigan! She found herself blushing and felt her body temperature rise within the confines of her unfamiliar corset. The school prom had been interesting and, in fairness, Billy had been a polite, considerate klutz - but a klutz nevertheless. Still, the school prom had been part of her "rites of passage" on her journey towards adulthood.

"OK David; let's get back to Danielle and get me released from this". Actually, Carolyn had quite enjoyed the new, unfamiliar sensations of being laced in and encased in the corset and was keen to make the most of what had seemed, one hour earlier, to be a hare-brained scheme from David. The experience had also assured her that she now knew that she was confident enough to willingly place herself in his - and Danielle's - hands for this project.

Danielle welcomed them back to the shop, took one look at Carolyn and said: "Why not keep it on longer this evening - ideally for the rest of the evening and until you are home. That way, you will get used to moving in it and get used to the embrace of the corset. Before you leave, please let me show you how to release the laces and care for the corset - and I think that you need to practice, so bring it back when you collect your made-to-measure corset in two weeks from now". Carolyn nodded dumbfounded and the design work continued with some fairly-intimate measurements.

Finally all was completed; David and Carolyn walked back to the Metro and went their separate ways. Carolyn had a slight problem getting comfortable in her car. She now realised what Danielle had meant about "submitting to the embrace of the corset" but she eventually drove home safely. Lorna was happy to assist her in unlacing once she arrived home and was eager to hear the details about the new costume planned for London.

The next day, Carolyn telephoned Danielle and confirmed that she was comfortable with the idea; the dressmaker gave her some more tips for comfortable wear, but Carolyn was already confident that the London Ball would be a success for all concerned. She just needed to practice lacing herself into the corset at home every evening to get "comfortable" with the foundation of her ball-gown ahead of London in March - there was no way that she felt that she could be wearing her corset to the office!

That resolution lasted her only four working days. By the following Thursday, her office staff were complimenting her and asking her if she had lost weight, because something about her appearance was different! Carolyn just smiled and went about her business, keeping the jacket of her snuggest-fitting suit buttoned up...

 **Thursday, 25th December 2014**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **10:25hrs EST - Christmas morning**

Everyone was gathered for the exchange of Christmas presents - Carolyn and Lorna; David and Lizzie; Loren in her day-chair.

The exchange of presents revealed how thoughtful everyone had been - small and medium-sized gifts were exchanged and unwrapped with glee and (in several cases) exclamations of surprise at how well-chosen the gifts were. Loren had become an enthusiastic shopper on Ebay, Amazon and several department store websites, using a credit card which Carolyn had arranged and authorised for her. Loren had realised, early on in her recovery, how the financial institutions had steadily deleted her electronic and credit file footprint over the first seven years of her coma - she would have to re-establish this before she finally left the facility.

One present was left until last, addressed to Carolyn; some of the participants guessed, but Loren had not. " _Come on, Carolyn; open up_ ".

The wrapping paper was swiftly torn open, to reveal further layers of tissue paper protecting - a bottle-green corset in brocade. Carolyn ran a hand over it, shuddered at the sensation of the material then looked across the room to David; he smiled and raised a glass of grape-juice as he observed: "I would like to see you in that, when we next go out".

"You got it, my wonderful man - just book the restaurant".

 **Tuesday, 13th January 2015**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **10:50hrs EST**

Loren's first exercise session of the morning was winding down when the door opened and Carolyn's smiling face peered around the door.

"Good morning Loren; fancy some company for the exercise today?"

"Yeah, sure thing, but why today?"

"Well, I've got the final ball-gown fitting on Thursday evening and I still reckon I've gained a pound (or two) since Christmas. I need to shed a few calories and so I've booked a day out of the practice and thought I would spend it with you, exercising, chatting and snacking".

Carolyn grinned and held up a miniature bottle of champagne: "Plus, I reckon it is about time that you and I toasted the start of 2015 - if you're up for it?"

Loren's warm and genuine smile lit up the room - once more showing her successful transformation from the "Lt Loren Singer" of 2003. "Sure thing - You're obviously not going to exercise in that sweater and skirt - and definitely not with those heels on your boots!"

Carolyn hefted a sports bag into the room. "Nope, got it all here - I just had to pop into the office first thing to sign an affidavit for one of my cases. I'll go and change in the bathroom if you don't mind - then I'll shower and change back later, when I get home to organise tea for Lorna".

Ten minutes later, Carolyn was ready; under the watchful eye of Loren's physiotherapist, she followed Loren's circuits around the running machine, cross-trainer, stair-stepper and rowing machine. It was clear that Loren Singer was moving rapidly back into the performance brackets which were expected of a US Navy officer; she was around three months ahead of Debbie Cromwell's expected progress chart - and accelerating.

 **Tuesday, 13th January 2015**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **13:00hrs EST**

Around 13:00hrs, the two friends broke off for a light lunch. They chatted whilst Carolyn reached into the cool-box for the miniature bottle of champagne that she had brought. Carolyn smiled as she cracked the cap of the miniature bottle of champagne: "here's to new adventures - whatever they may bring".

Loren held the glasses as Carolyn poured the drinks, then opened up the questioning.

"So, I guess that everything with David is going well?"

"Oh yes, I feel more comfortable with him every time we get together"

"Well Carolyn, you know your heart - I hope that everything works out; you've been alone for long enough since Pete".

"You're right Loren - and I'm beginning to realise that maybe I wasn't meant to be alone for the rest of my life".

"Cheers - and ditto" Loren returned the toast and the two friends sat back and savoured the sensation of the bubbles on their tongues.

"You know, I think that 2015 could be a really good year" Loren said, to no-one in particular.

"Amen sister" replied Carolyn.

An hour later, they worked through the next cycle of exercises, before Carolyn showered and dried, changed into her outer clothes and headed back to Old Dominion Drive for Lorna's tea. The day of exercise enabled her to sleep soundly that night.

 **Thursday, 15th January 2015**

 **DC-Metro station Metro Place, central Washington DC**

 **18:20hrs EST**

Carolyn met David at Danielle's boutique for the final fitting. Everything about her costume was perfect and Carolyn realised that she could very easily get used to custom-made clothing - apart from the price! In the intervening fortnight since new year, they had maintained regular telephone contact as David's workload had spiked after the Christmas vacation. Somehow, it seemed that the stresses of Christmas and New Year caused a spike in cardiac events - and the workload through David's clinic.

With the new year celebrations behind them, Carolyn and David both wanted to re-start what was becoming their customary Thursday evening "dates" and were now totally comfortable in each other's company.

They understood each other's history, lives (and lost loves). Carolyn had explained - again - why she wore her "wedding" ring and David had - similarly - recounted how he knew that Amanda's spirit would understand when he finally removed his wedding ring. He was certain that, through the illness and the death, he had lived up to the vows of " _in sickness and health, until death us do part_ " which he had made when he married Amanda all those years before.

With coffees consumed, they walked hand-in-hand into Danielle's salon; she greeted them both, then ushered Carolyn off towards the fitting rooms. Carolyn had laced herself into the new green corset that afternoon following her lunch break; she had solved the problem of driving whilst corseted, by installing a small round cushion in the small of her back; this cushioned her perfectly against the driver's seat and she was able to control the vehicle with confidence.

The dress fitted her corseted body like a glove. Carolyn then learned an important lesson about corsets; she had sat down to try to unzip her boots and to buckle on her strappy, high-heeled sandals, then realised that, try as she might, she could not bend her confined body to reach the zip on her boots.

Helpless, she looked across to Danielle and David, who were smiling. David and Danielle had been expecting this problem, but it was Danielle who explained: "the first lesson in corsetry is: ' _boots before corset_ ' and you have now learned that lesson. You must attend to your legs before putting on the corset." Unboxing the shoes, Danielle helped Carolyn into them and buckled the ankle straps, guiding her feet into the stiletto-heeled evening sandals. Kneeling before her, he gathered Carolyn's hands and kissed her knuckles before he stood up and offered her a helping hand.

Carolyn rose and stood tall - she loved her reflection and she could tell that David was similarly impressed. He had, of course merely to put on a dress shirt, bow tie, cummerbund and tuxedo to be ready for the ball. Carolyn idly wondered if his links to ancestors in the UK might include Welsh or Scottish blood - which would open up the way to David being outfitted in a tartan kilt. The heritage of Wales, Cornwall and the whole of Scotland provided a rich tapestry of family tartans - far wider than just the better-known Scottish links to tartans and kilts. This jumble of thoughts cleared, as she stood before David to show off her outfit.

David seemed to be entranced: all he could say was "Wow, my princess is reborn".

Roll on London! Carolyn was confident that the next two months would fly by.

 **Carolyn was looking forward to March 2015 in a way (and with an enthusiasm) that she had not anticipated something similar since 2003.**

 **888-888-888-888**

 **End Ch. 8 - "Back in the saddle"**


	9. London

**Chapter 9: "London"**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** ** _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_** **" disclaimer. To this, I now add "** _ **apart**_ ** _from any fictional character created by myself_** **".**

Now, on with Chapter 9 - we join Carolyn and David as they travel to London in 2015 with Lorna and Lizzie, alongside Loren's continuing recovery. Carolyn starts considering what life may have to offer in future now that Loren's recovery is almost complete, then she gets a very unexpected surprise..

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Start Ch. 9 - "London"**

 **Thursday, 15th January 2015**

 **DC-Metro station Metro Place, central Washington DC**

 **18:20hrs EST**

Carolyn met David at Danielle's boutique for the final fitting. Everything about the ball-gown and the underpinnings was perfect and Carolyn realised that she could very easily get used to custom-made clothing - apart from the price! In the intervening fortnight since the new year, she and David had maintained regular telephone contact as David's workload had spiked after the Christmas vacation. Somehow, it seemed that the stresses of Christmas and New Year caused a surge in cardiac and coronary events. With the New Year celebrations behind them, Carolyn and David both wanted to re-start what they wanted to be their rapidly-evolving customary Thursday evening "dates". They were now totally comfortable in each other's company. Both Lizzie and Lorna were completely supportive of the blossoming friendship between the two adults - the original friendship between the two girls was now a burgeoning pseudo-family pairing...

David and Carolyn understood each other's lives, history, family and lost loves. Carolyn had explained - again - why she wore her "wedding" ring and David had - similarly - recounted how he knew that Amanda's spirit would understand when he finally removed his wedding ring when he moved on. He was certain that, throughout the shock of Amanda's death and his devotion to bringing up Lizzie as a single dad, he had lived up to the vows of " _in sickness and health, until death us do part_ " which he had made when he had married Amanda all those years ago.

With coffees consumed, they walked hand-in-hand into Danielle's salon; she greeted them both, then ushered Carolyn off towards the fitting rooms. Carolyn had laced herself into the interim corset that afternoon, using her personal bathroom in her practice following the lunch break. She had now solved the problem of driving whilst corseted, by installing a small round cushion in the small of her back; this cushioned the gap between her lower back and the driver's seat, so she was able to control the vehicle with confidence whilst wearing the interim corset. She was now eager to try the new custom-made item. Danielle checked the fit of the custom-built version in bottle green and adjusted Carolyn's lacing carefully before bringing across the ball-gown.

At the very first fitting, Danielle's carefully-taken measurements had ensured perfection - the custom-made gown fitted her corseted body like a glove. Carolyn then learned an important lesson about corsets; she had sat down to unzip her boots so that she could buckle on her strappy, high-heeled sandals, at which point she realised that, try as she might, she could not bend her tightly-confined body.

Helpless, she looked across to Danielle and David, who were smiling. David and Danielle had been expecting this problem, but it was Danielle who explained: "the first lesson in corsetry is: ' _boots before corset_ ' and you have now learned that lesson. You must attend to your legs before lacing up the corset". Danielle unboxed the shoes, then David helped Carolyn unzip and remove her 21st-Century boots then assisted her into the sandals, guiding her feet into the stiletto-heeled evening sandals and buckled the ankle straps closed. Kneeling before her, he gathered Carolyn's hands and kissed her knuckles before he stood up and offered her a helping hand.

Carolyn placed her hands on his shoulders then rose and stood tall: she loved her reflection in the long mirror and she could tell that David was similarly impressed. He had, of course, merely to put on a dress shirt, bow tie, cummerbund and tuxedo to be ready for the ball. Carolyn idly wondered if his links to ancestors in the UK might include Welsh or Scottish blood - which would open up the way to David being outfitted in a tartan kilt. The heritage of Wales, Cornwall and the whole of Scotland provided a rich tapestry of family tartans - far wider than just the better-known Scottish links to tartans and kilts. This jumble of thoughts cleared, as she stood before David to show off her outfit.

David seemed to be entranced: all he could say was "Wow, my princess is reborn".

Roll on London! In the meantime, they had planned a night away for the weekend closest to Valentine's night and found themselves increasingly becoming *very* comfortable with each other - so much so that their bodies moved together with easy familiarity every time they met up! Carolyn was also slightly nervous of what lay ahead; waxing her legs was only one small part of getting herself readied once more for "the dating game": she and David also had two highly intelligent and curious teenagers to look after, distract and manage!

 **Carolyn was looking forward to the London trip in March in a way (and with an enthusiasm) that she had not anticipated anything since late 2003.**

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Friday, 16th January 2015**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:10hrs EST**

Carolyn had been pleasantly surprised that she and Lorna were met by Loren at the entrance lobby of the facility. Using her walker, Loren had then kept pace with Carolyn on the leisurely walk to the dayroom. They sat down in a small semi-circle of chairs.

"Loren, this looks rather good; how are you coping with the extra exertion?"

"Well, I can regularly cycle ten miles easily on the static exercise bike, up to twice a day on weekdays now; my upper body strength is only 9% below the US Navy requirements for a woman of my physical age. My target - my final goal - is that I want to be out by Memorial Day or very early in June, which means that I have only a little over four months of working time left to achieve the few remaining goals. It is going really well, Carolyn; God, I owe you so much - and your lovely Pete for the rescue that night". Loren smiled at Carolyn.

"Oh wow, Loren - that is so good to hear and I have more good news. The house construction for your new home is moving on apace. The weather has held things up a little, but weather delays were built into the programme for the build and so we're confident that we are on track. We'll need you to finalise your choice of colour schemes when we get back from London in late March, but it looks good to be finished ready for us to have you as our neighbour any time from the end of May onwards". Carolyn and Lorna hugged Loren.

"So, how did last night's dress fitting go - are you ready to dance in London?" Loren was eager for the latest gossip and Carolyn did not disappoint her.

"Yes we are ready - here, let me show you the pictures that the boutique took of me during the final fitting last night. I was worried about the heels but I've been breaking them in around the office and haven't fallen over yet".

Loren pored over the photographs on Carolyn's laptop, then sat back and smiled at her former Navy colleague.

"Carolyn, you can carry this off - just go strut your stuff, friend!"

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Saturday, 14th February 2015**

 **Suite 109, The Greenbriar hotel**

 **300 W Main St,**

 **White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986-2498**

 **18:50hrs EST**

The snow-covered West Virginia countryside was beautiful. Setting off after breakfast, the long snowy drive down from DC on the Friday had been an interesting challenge for David's Range Rover, but David and Carolyn had arrived safely, with plenty of time to settle in before the evening meal.

For the Saturday evening meal, Carolyn treated it as a rehearsal for the London Ball - she wore her complete ensemble and felt regal as she glided serenely into the dining room for their meal.

The meal in the main restaurant was near-perfect. The two love-birds ate slowly and steadily, savouring every course before they found that they were both in the mood for dancing. Afterwards, the dance band provided perfect background music as Carolyn and David rehearsed their dance moves before they retired to their suite.

Looking out at the snow-covered grounds from their bedroom window, Carolyn sighed heavily and reached out for David's hand. "Thank you, Mister Cardiologist Man, for freeing my heart from the past and encouraging me to love again. I don't know where we'll end up, but I am glad to have started the journey - and I am *so* pleased to be travelling with you".

David held Carolyn close, kissed her gently and replied: "Darling Lawyer Lady, the feeling is mutual. I feel you've opened my eyes and my heart in return. I am very pleased to be on this journey alongside you, partner". Turning her around, he began to undo the layers of her costume as a precursor to welcoming her to their bed.

They spent the entire weekend lazing around the hotel, enjoying the facilities and making love repeatedly as their bodies continued to grow completely accustomed to one another since that first breakfast-time coupling on the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend back in November.

 **Monday, 16th February 2015**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **20:05hrs EST**

On the Monday evening, as he drew to a halt outside Carolyn's front door at the end of the long drive from Greenbriar, David put the car into Park and switched off the engine, then hopped out and walked around to assist Carolyn out of her seat. He opened the rear hatch to offload Carolyn's bags and carried them into her house, placing them in the hallway. On his second trip, he hung the long dress-cover containing her ball gown and underpinnings on the coat-hooks.

He turned and took her in his arms as she closed her front door to keep the heat in; he kissed her deeply and said "I cannot wait for London next month, Carolyn".

Carolyn hugged him back and replied: "How about you guys come over here on Thursday this week and I'll cook, ideally for all four of us; I'll ask Lorna and you can ask Lizzie about a sleepover, because it *will* be a school night for all of us. It will give us a good opportunity to run through the plans for London with the girls - I cannot believe that it's only a month to go".

"Good thinking Carolyn - I'll check with Lizzie and confirm about Thursday evening when I call you tomorrow".

With a final kiss, he climbed up into the Range Rover and set off for his home.

Carolyn waved him off and watched him exit the long driveway onto the road before she closed her outer front door, eager to update Lorna on the weekend. Lorna had spent the weekend in one of the guest suites at the Facility, enabling her to spend a complete weekend with her mom and planning Loren's move to her new home, which was now only a matter of months away. Lizzie had arranged a sleepover with some other school friends, which had enabled David to get away for the weekend with Carolyn. Over hot chocolate and marshmallows, guardian and ward caught up and planned for the coming week.

Carolyn Imes slept very well that Monday night; it seemed that " _life is for the living_ " was becoming a reality, in the company of a lovely widower who also, it transpired, was an excellent, skilled and considerate lover. She looked forward to their next "date night" - and London - with renewed enthusiasm.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Wednesday, 18th March 2015**

 **London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square**

 **London, UK, W1K 6JP**

 **18:50hrs GMT (EST +5hrs)**

The time in London had passed quickly since their arrival on the preceding Saturday. The foursome had enjoyed an open-top bus tour around London on the Sunday lunchtime before returning to the hotel. After the conference welcome meeting and dinner on the Sunday evening, the organisers had run a packed programme of organised events for the families who had accompanied the conference delegates. The sightseeing tours had been well-organised by the event co-ordinators and Carolyn had learned a lot about the United Kingdom and its multi-millennium history.

Whilst David attended the conference sessions, Carolyn had naturally taken Lizzie under her wing with Lorna and she had enjoyed the company of the two bright, intelligent 11-year-olds as they were guided around the tourist highlights of Britain on a series of organised trips set up by the conference organisers. They visited Shakespeare's legacy at Stratford-upon-Avon and the university city of Oxford on Monday, the south coast at Brighton and the Battle of Britain memorial at Capel-le-Ferne on Tuesday and then the university town of Cambridge on Wednesday. Tomorrow, a day-trip out west into Wiltshire would take them to the 5,000-year-old pre-historic stone circle of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, with the modern visitor centre which had opened in 2013.

Every evening, the "Three Musketeers" met up with David, as all conference participants were usually invited to dine together in the hotel's restaurant. Wednesday was slightly different. On the Wednesday evening, with under-18s taken on a theatre trip to see "Wicked" near Victoria railway station, David and Carolyn enjoyed a chance for a quiet dinner for two and they had arrived at their dinner table at 18:30hrs.

The conversation inevitably played over the past, going deeper than the previous conversations which they had first had in September back in Washington and during January. this was serious, heart-opening, deep-diving "get to know you further" territory. They delved further and deeper than ever before into their past lives, past jobs, past loves and lost loves. David was very open about his loss of Amanda while Carolyn realised that her experiences of losing Pete were in parallel with David's life history. They realised that each of them had experienced the "one great love" - and had then lost that person.

Carolyn was, slowly, inexorably, inevitably and irresistibly falling in love. Obviously they had already responded to the physical attraction between them on that morning over the Thanksgiving weekend and again over the Valentine's weekend in February, but that seemed to have merely enhanced their spiritual connection. It was also quite clear that David was on exactly the same journey, at the same speed, as Carolyn.

As they rose from the table, leaving the empty coffee cups, David took Carolyn's hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Without any pressure, would you consider giving thought to not sleeping alone tonight? Even if we simply share a bed again and take advantage of our adjoining suites?"

Carolyn leaned in and kissed him full on the lips.

"Lead on, Mr Cardiologist Man. I'll text the girls and ask them to both use my suite tonight when they get back from the theatre. The hotel Reception can sort out the room key details - I'll leave them a note. I noticed that housekeeping had refreshed all the beds in the suites this morning".

She paused and smiled at him; he looked back at her as she carried on speaking. "Simply sharing a bed won't cut it, David - ever again. I need the whole of your body as well as your heart, because you have all of mine".

Arm in arm, David and Carolyn strolled towards his suite.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Thursday, 19th March 2015**

 **London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square**

 **London, UK, W1K 6JP**

 **23:50hrs GMT**

The end-of-conference ceremonial Ball was winding down; Lizzie and Lorna had left the "grown-ups" a little after 22:30hrs and would once more be using the pair of bedrooms in Carolyn's suite (as they had on the preceding night) as they settled down for one of their last remaining nights in London before the Saturday shopping excursions and then the Sunday lunchtime British Airways flight back from Heathrow into Dulles.

Carolyn and David had spent another wonderful and convivial evening in each other's company - indeed Carolyn had realised that she was the most relaxed that she had been in years. She hadn't even had more than one glass of wine - her body simply didn't require alcohol for some reason, being "inebriated" or intoxicated simply on David's company. What was it about this widower that had grabbed her attention in a vice-like, unrelenting grip and why did she feel so good, so relaxed and (with all due respect to Pete) so damn' guiltless at having fallen for him?

Before the band played the final musical requests of the evening, she had asked David if he was ready to retire. He agreed immediately and the couple headed towards the lifts which would take them up to the Executive floor and their suites.

The carpeting in the hallway was obviously generating static electricity, because as Carolyn brushed past David's sleeve, she received a slight jolt. David felt her respond and so he squeezed her hand in reassurance as the lift arrived on their floor with a soft * _ding_ *.

Carolyn's suite (normally shared with Lorna) lay just beyond the entrance to David's suite (which he shared with Lizzie). The entrance doors were "siamesed" on the corridor - and the dividing wall also had connecting doors, to allow the occupants of the adjacent suites to swap between suites without moving onto the corridor. David unlocked his door and pushed the door gently open. He stepped into the doorway then turned round, holding out his hands to Carolyn.

"Carolyn, I haven't forgotten the terms of my invitation to you last night, but might I invite you into the suite to linger a little longer? Lizzie is obviously still in with Lorna in her suite. I need to tell you that I haven't .. _ooof_!" His speech stopped dead as Carolyn, matching his eye-level in her stiletto heels, leaned in, grabbed both of his tuxedo jacket lapels and kissed him passionately. She nudged him gently backwards into his suite and then she back-heeled the door closed.

"David, my body is telling me things that I thought I had suppressed forever since 2003. Your body speaks to me like no-one before in the history of my life. I want to stay - and anyway, I need you to be around me as I undress". She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

David looked at her in bewildered puzzlement: "OK Carolyn, I have to be honest that your presence this evening has awoken all sorts of lovely thoughts, although I wouldn't act on them without your consent. Undressing you would be my pleasure but I have got to ask - why do you need help?"

Carolyn undid the zip concealed in the side of her dress, then smiled at him as she turned her back to him.

"Well, who else could I trust to release me and unlace me out of this corset and the heels?"

The skilled surgeon inside David suddenly turned into a fumble-fingered teenager!

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Friday, 20th March 2015**

 **London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square**

 **London, UK, W1K 6JP**

 **09:14hrs GMT**

At 09:15AM the following morning, the phone rang in David's suite. Lizzie's voice intruded into his sleep-befuddled brain. As he began to collect his thoughts, his hand idly brushed across the top of the bedcover and encountered a gossamer-thin stay-up thigh-high stocking. Several pleasant thoughts crowded into his brain as he chatted with his daughter, who was telephoning to report that she was hungry - and so was Lorna! His hand continued travelling sideways across the bed and encountered something that had been absent from his bed for many years prior to the last Thanksgiving - a soft, warm, comfortable, trusting and (from the feel of it) totally-relaxed woman. A pleasure-riddled grunt came as the response, as she playfully rolled over onto his hand, trapping him beneath a very warm and soft breast. An eye, framed in tousled ginger hair, peeped out at him from beneath the duvet, paired with the most gorgeous smile to grace his bed for many years. Carolyn Imes was surfacing - and bringing back all sorts of pleasant memories about the previous night's playful wickedness!

Quickly switching into "Dad" mode, he asked Lizzie to wait for five minutes and then call again - by which time he would have woken Carolyn properly, so that the four of them could plan how they would handle breakfast - either in-room or in the downstairs restaurant.

David's other hand probed once more under the bedding. Another grunt followed, then Carolyn's sleep-slurred voice could be heard. "Oh God, please close your eyes; I need to dash to the bathroom".

"Don't worry darling; I'm going to pull on a dressing gown then go and distract the girls; Lizzie just called to say they are hungry. I shall go and distract them; phone us or come through into their suite when you are ready - say 20 minutes?" He grabbed his dressing gown and scooted around to the bottom of the bed. "And now I am going to cover my eyes!".

David put both hands theatrically over his eyes and felt the bed shift as Carolyn dashed from the bathroom. Peeping slightly, his apparent disloyalty was "rewarded" with a glimpse of a beautifully freckled back, a lithe body and the most wonderful pair of buttocks that he had seen in years, on top of a lovely pair of dancer's legs.

David lay back in bed, offered up a quick prayer of thanks to his deity, then wrapped the dressing gown around him and strolled through the connecting door into the girls' suite, calling out " _man on deck_ " and pulling closed the connecting door behind him to give Carolyn some privacy to gather her scattered thoughts and assume some semblance of order in her appearance.

To their credit, neither 11-year-old girl said anything - but he *did* notice Lizzie and Lorna exchanging knowing looks as he settled in the armchair and picked up the Friday morning edition of The Times. The convenient weekday tabloid size of the London Times made it easy for readers to hand around the sections during the week - he was warned that the Saturday edition was fatter and that the Sunday Times remained as a "broadsheet" size of newspaper.

"Lizzie, I wonder if you would mind making some coffee for at least two adult (and maybe also two younger?) people please" he enquired.

"Sure Dad - be glad to". Lizzie quickly got to grips with the task, whilst Lorna busied herself with the beds in "her" suite, pulling the sets of bedding back into some semblance of order and to provide more surfaces on which to lay out clothes and clear the shopping bags off the armchairs so that four people could sit in the day-room of the suite. They would arrange, later, for Housekeeping to re-make all the beds later in the day.

After about ten minutes, Carolyn arrived; hair brushed, face make-up free, confident and proud, wrapped in her long dressing-gown. As she greeted the girls, she trailed her hand across David's shoulders as she passed by his chair, then she settled into an adjacent armchair and gratefully received her first cup of coffee of the morning from Lizzie; Lorna delivered a cup, simultaneously, to David as everyone struggled to attain the same level of consciousness.

They all agreed on a room-service breakfast and that Carolyn would, once more, escort the two young ladies on the organised afternoon activities around London during the day whilst David attended the conference. Today's shortened schedule included the Natural History Museum in Kensington, then the Friday morning tourist agenda would include Madame Tussaud's waxwork museum and a boat trip along the River Thames from Westminster Pier - all their activities stayed within the city centre, close to the hotel, so that some family members might still fit in the local sightseeing activities before the departure of their flights or trains. It also saved them from becoming trapped in heavy Friday afternoon traffic on Britain's congested major highways.

With breakfast finished, David made it into the conference centre in time for the 10:30am interval in proceedings and slid quietly in, joining the delegates for the rest of the Friday proceedings. In the evening, all four enjoyed a meal in the main hotel restaurant, as the locally-based delegates continued to depart from the conference, travelling away to their respective countries.

A lovely dinner for the four of them was laid on in the main hotel restaurant before they all retired for a good night's sleep. Once more, the girls took one suite, leaving David and Carolyn the privacy of the other suite. It was clear that the girls had no problem with whatever the "grown-ups" might be getting up to in the other suite!

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Saturday, 21st March 2015**

 **London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square**

 **London, UK, W1K 6JP**

 **06:54hrs GMT**

Carolyn pushed aside the bedding on her side of the bed and stood up. Halfway across the room to the bathroom, the floor started spinning; she stood still, grasping and holding the door handle as she collected her scattered wits and just made it to the toilet before dropping gently to her knees and worshipping the great god of porcelain.

Confused, sore and worried, she sat back alongside the toilet, gasping to get her breath under control and regain control. Some minute later and just as she thought that she was getting back under control, the sickness struck again and this time, the noise awoke David. In a few steps, he was at her side, cradling her head and reaching for a facecloth which he soaked in cool water and placed on the back of her neck.

"Oh God this isn't fun" Carolyn groaned as she lamented; "What the heck have I eaten?"

"Well, we both ate the same thing last night." David had switched into "surgeon" mode. "Transit time is usually six hours through the bowel if there is a problem - vomiting normally comes quicker if the body detects an irritant and goes into 'flush' mode. These symptoms don't make sense".

"Ah well, it may be the different water of the city, or something in the atmosphere" Carolyn observed as she slowly drew herself upright.

She smiled to herself. "Well. at least I can be fairly certain..."

A confused look came across her face. She rose unsteadily and then swigged a mouthful of water from the tap in the hand-basin before walking, slowly and unsteadily, back into the bedroom and heading across to delve into her handbag.

She took out her diary and flicked back through a couple of weeks. Grimacing, she then put a hand to her forehead.

"Oh crap!"

"Carolyn, what is it?"

"I'm late".

"No, breakfast runs until 11 on a Saturday, so what are you... OH!" David suddenly looked at Carolyn - and the diary in her hand - like a rabbit in headlights. "Late? Oh crap, as in *late-late* as in... Do you think...?" As he spoke, his expression of panic morphed into an adolescent-like grin of pride as his gaze dropped to her waist and he hugged Carolyn tightly. "How the hell did that happen?"

She laughed and looked up into his eyes. "And you call yourself a doctor?" She laughed and continued: "Five weeks on from our Valentine's weekend at the Greenbriar? Let's face it, we made a good impression of a pair of randy rabbits all that weekend, didn't we? You've probably got my hormones all fired up and working again since that first time over Thanksgiving in your home back in November, Mister super lover boy. Damn; I may have had a random ovulation and you struck the target".

David made a play of puffing out his chest, then hugged her once more and said: "But I only succeeded because of this devastatingly beautiful flame-haired temptress who has dragged me into her lair and had her wicked way with me - several times over several months!" His eyes glittered with laughter.

She smiled to herself. "Shit, that would be some record, losing my timing at 51. OK, look, let's not panic - I'll drop by a pharmacy today and grab some EPTs and we'll know for sure before I *really* push the panic button. Damn, this was *not* what I wanted for 2015".

They hugged and walked arm-in-arm back into the large bathroom. Carolyn headed to the shower whilst David set about shaving; he was most impressed with the heated mirror over the hand-basin, which prevented the mirror from misting up. Turning off the water in the shower, Carolyn stuck her head out to look at him.

"David?"

"Yes?"

"Please say nothing to the girls just yet - OK? This is important to me (and it *is* my body) and I am sure they will understand why we stayed quiet for a while once we do break the news to them and explain the delay. I want to make sure, then work out the possible dates, get back home to DC and then get hold of an OB/GYN before we start a panic".

David hugged her and gently kissed her forehead, sliding a hand between them to gently caress her flat, trim stomach inside her nightdress.

"No problem - and if the EPTs do come out positive, then I know just the right woman (and her team) in DC to support you over the next eight months".

He paused "At least, my lady, I would happily recommend her in the circumstance that you *are* pregnant and if you make the decision to keep the pregnancy - it is very much your body and your decision".

"Oh good thinking David. I accept your offer - if I *am* pregnant, would you set things up and come with me to hold my hand at the hospital please?"

She turned the water back on and dipped back under the shower head as David considered his answer.

"Darling Carolyn, just you try keeping me away! I shall be alongside you at every step of the way - whatever you decide. So darling, be in no doubt that you are not alone, whatever you may decide about this - we are together in this unexpected adventure. On the subject of 'alone', will you be coming for breakfast Carolyn?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I'll be coming down for breakfast - if I am really eating for two! Would you check on the girls but let's aim to all go down for breakfast together in about 20 minutes - OK?". Carolyn sounded distracted and he looked into the shower stall, where Carolyn was checking her breasts.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. She smiled back at him.

"Sensitive nipples - that's the second sign; I remember these from last time back in '03 with Pete's and my baby at about week five, but not the upchucking". She paused, half-remembering events from 2003. "Oh hang on a minute, I barfed in Owen Sebring's court; yep, I reckon I'm pregnant!"

Fresh from the shower, Carolyn dried herself and then styled her hair before pulling on a loose sweater over a collared blouse and comfortable slacks to meet Lorna and Lizzie ahead of the trip to breakfast. A leisurely buffet breakfast followed, with discussions about the day's planned activities. She slipped on a pair of flat-heeled loafers for her quick run out of the hotel. Lizzie and Lorna headed for reception to grab leaflets about the various tourist attractions in the city.

At 09:45AM, Carolyn walked down to the concierge desk to ask for directions to a pharmacy (or "chemist" as the Brits termed that type of shop). The female concierge not only gave her directions after checking that she knew the UK terms for what she needed, but also complimented her on " _your beautifully well-behaved daughters_ ". Carolyn didn't have the heart to correct the woman, so just smiled and soaked up the compliments. She also realised that this could be what her life as a step-mom could be - soaking up compliments for Lizzie in future and reinforcing positive comments about the good job she had done in bringing up Lorna. She stepped out of the hotel, following the concierge's directions. " _Typical_ " she thought to herself; " _Just as I get to hand Lorna to her loving mother full-time and find a lovely man who I can keep all to myself, I get to deliver company for Lizzie_ ". She smiled to herself: such a problem was actually good fortune. She was obviously destined to be surrounded by children in her personal life, after more than a decade spent assisting children in her professional life along with her voluntary guardianship of Lorna.

By 10:20, she was back in her suite. She had become horribly lost on the way back, and was so pleased with the London black cab taxi system, where you just stick your hand out to attract the attention of a passing black cab which, if its light is on, will stop and collect you. She stuck her head into the other suite, where David and the girls were choosing touring guides for the later Saturday afternoon trip to the London Eye, and beckoned him over. She showed him the small package: "Do you want to watch? I thought I would give you the opportunity to wimp out" she whispered.

David took both her hands in his and gently kissed Carolyn's forehead as he smiled back. "Err, yes please I would like to watch but *not* the actual sampling - you deserve privacy for that first bit of the job", he whispered. "So would you get started and I'll be in shortly to be with you for the results - or phone through to the other suite". David kissed her again and squeezed her hand. Carolyn withdrew to the other suite and headed into the bathroom. She opened the cardboard boxes, read the instructions and got to work.

A few minutes later, the phone rang in the suite where David was sitting with the girls. Lizzie answered, said "Hi Carolyn" and then looked at David and pointed him to the connecting door. David walked through and closed the door behind him. Lorna and Lorna looked at each other, simultaneously shrugging their shoulders.

As David entered Carolyn's suite, he heard the sound of quiet weeping. Carolyn was sitting on the floor of her suite, back resting against her bed, holding three little plastic sticks which would shortly confirm their suspicions, clear her stress or confirm her fate - at that point, she wasn't certain what her preference would be.

Crossing the room, David took Carolyn in his arms, looking into her tear-moistened eyes.

She looked back at him then looked down at the three white sticks, smiled and uttered the immortal phrase; "Dear God, I'll be 70 when this child goes off to university!"

Her body was racked by more crying and David sat alongside her and pulled her into his arms. "What's wrong darling?"

Carolyn sniffled: "that lovely dress and corset - I won't fit them for another year now - if ever, after giving birth!"

David laughed, hugged her and kissed the crown of her head. "Darling Carolyn, I'll get Danielle to construct another one next year and every year after, if needed".

Carolyn looked at him with a spark in her eye. "Are you saying I'll always be fat from now on?"

They both burst out laughing and he hugged her tight, showering kisses on her head, face, shoulders and hands, causing her to drop the three plastic sticks - which then lay where Lorna and Lizzie found them, scattered on the floor around David and Carolyn, five minutes later when the girls went in search of the adults who had not returned through the connecting door.

Lorna spotted the EPTs on the floor and picked one up, looking at the result. She squeaked in surprise and turned to Lizzie with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh. My. Lord. Lizzie, you're going to have a sister or brother!"

"And you, dear Lorna, are going to have a - " Lizzie hesitated and thought for a moment; "closely-linked sibling-stroke-friend!" In sync, the two girls both looked at Carolyn and exclaimed "Wow!". Carolyn and David reached out simultaneously to the two girls.

All four hugged tightly as the news sank in.

At the back of her mind, Carolyn began to fret about the health challenges and risks of being what the medical profession so-charmingly termed " _an older mother_ ".

Then she thought of something even worse - an " _older first-time mother_ ". She was not looking forward to the ante-natal classes, surrounded by young gazelles who would probably romp through their pregnancies whilst she felt like crap for the next eight months and beyond. She looked at David, with a worried expression on her face.

"David, can I do this? At my age?"

"Darling, you are one of the most capable women I have ever met; you are healthy and fit, plus I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. You have a great support network. Damnit Carolyn *yes*, you can *definitely* do this; this child - our child - is blessed in so many ways, not just the accident of his or her conception. Yes we shall worry; yes we shall have anxious moments; but this will all come right". He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her to his chest. He noticed that Carolyn still looked slightly worried, but less so than 15 minutes earlier when she first saw the results on all three matching EPTs and realised her condition was real, with the remains of a nine-month countdown already ticking.

But deep down despite her visible expressions of worry, Carolyn Imes was already relaxing, accepting and beginning to realise that a child was the perfect completion of the journey(s) for David, her, Lizzie and (by extension and guardianship) Lorna. Obviously, Amanda and Pete would be looking down from on high and would be assisting whenever kind spirits were allowed to help.

What would Loren think when they broke the news of Carolyn's pregnancy to her?

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Sunday, 22nd March 2015**

 **London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square**

 **London, UK, W1K 6JP**

 **07:13hrs GMT**

Carolyn was awoken with a cup of herbal tea and some crackers; David smiled down at her as he recalled a fond memory. "This worked for Amanda from week six to week eleven when she suffered from morning sickness when she was carrying Lizzie; it helped to take the edge off her symptoms".

"Oh I do hope so; God I feel like crap - did you say weeks six to eleven? Oh boy!". Carolyn gratefully acknowledged the gift, then stayed sitting up as she sipped the tea and nibbled the crackers.

She felt as though she was treading on eggshells; despite the joyous reaction from Lizzie at the news of an impending little brother or sister, Lorna had been slightly reserved. Carolyn resolved to discuss the matter with Lorna - but one afternoon in the near future, not when she felt at risk of sliding sideways off the planet (as she did at that precise moment on the Sunday morning with a long flight back home to America ahead of her). She would then need to break the news to Loren at some point.

"Darling, might I offer an idea for when you get into the shower later on?" asked David.

She nodded, looking inquisitively at him.

"Let us shower together, so I can support you in that big shower stall" he suggested.

She nodded gratefully, finished the crackers and she then lay back down; she dozed for a half-hour until 08:00hrs then rose steadily and headed for the bathroom.

Carolyn relaxed as David's hands helped to shampoo her hair; as his hands worked their way down her back with a gentle massaging movement, she decided to broach another subject which had been on her mind since the discovery of her unexpected pregnancy.

"David, if this pregnancy goes successfully to term, I would like him or her to be born within a marriage. It's just the way I was brought up." She turned round to look at him. Placing a hand on his chest, she continued: "but I do not want you to feel that you have been trapped into marriage by this wonderful event".

David considered her question for a moment, then dropped to one knee as the water flooded over his face, reached out for Carolyn's hand and said: "Carolyn, this is about as 180-degrees around from what I had planned for our lives as it could be, but your idea fits very comfortably with the way that I have felt for a while. So yes, I would very much like to invite you to become my wife. Let's sort out a ring when we get home. We haven't really got time to rush to Hatton Garden".

Carolyn agreed - a rushed trip to the London diamond quarter would not do justice to their mission, because she planned to wear the engagement ring - with her wedding ring - until she was " _put to bed with a shovel_ " (as she had once heard Loren Singer state). Also, to be frank, with her current morning sickness, the idea of "dashing" anywhere that morning was not an attractive proposition!

This morning, the crackers worked and everything held together for Carolyn, with the result that the "family unit" set off for the breakfast room together at 09:10hrs. Carolyn was pleased to note that, by eating small portions regularly with a slight pause between each, she was able to keep her breakfast down. By lunchtime, she was fine, wolfing down an omelette with a side order of fruit salad and fries (" _well, if I am going to have cravings when pregnant, I may as well start with healthy cravings_ ", she joked with her fellow-diners).

The hotel's concierge service was booked to pack everything from 12:00noon and the limo transfer to Heathrow was scheduled for 13:30hrs, giving them plenty of time to check in for flight BA0293 at Terminal Four (the dedicated BA terminal at LHR) and then relax in one of the Executive lounges before the scheduled departure of the 747 at 17:10hrs.

A quick transatlantic telephone call to McLean had enabled them to update Loren and let her know that they were on the way home; Loren promised to keep track of the flight via one of the flight-tracking websites which showed aircraft positions, ETA information and the like; Loren remained fully-involved in the journey, although the decision had been taken not to inform her about the early pregnancy just yet - Lorna and Lizzie had been involved in the discussion about secrecy and both girls saw the rationale for silence in the short term. It would be better for Carolyn to inform Loren of her pregnancy face-to-face and probably after the Carolyn's first hospital check.

Lizzie and Lorna were long-schooled in how to behave in public, settling down with a new book from the booksellers and a Kindle respectively. David sampled three of the red wines laid out in the lounge, considerately holding the glass under Carolyn's nose so that she could take a sip taste of each on the tip of her tongue. Carolyn was determined to give her unexpected passenger as smooth and healthy a ride as possible across the Atlantic, now that she knew (and accepted) that her little hitch-hiker was on board. As a newly-pregnant woman, Carolyn the lawyer had dealt with enough pregnant mothers to know that she would have to subjugate her needs to the requirements of the foetus growing within her as she developed into Carolyn the Expectant Mother. Eight months without booze was a small price to pay for a healthy baby, she rapidly decided.

The family group had pre-booked two pairs of seats in the small 20-seat Club World (business class) cabin upstairs behind what Harm would have called "the drivers" on the Boeing 747-400. Seats 63A and 63B on the port side were just across from the matching 63J and 63K. The "ying-yang" seating arrangement (one seat facing forward alongside one facing aft) enabled couples to sit and talk whilst facing each other and the sense of space and tranquility helped to calm Carolyn's nerves, which were still frazzled at the news of the sudden discovery of her condition the previous day. After the gorgeous evening meal had been served, she reclined her seat into a totally flat bed and slept for several hours. Landing time into Dulles was on schedule at 20:20hrs local and this enabled Carolyn and Lorna to reach home just after 22:30hrs on the Sunday evening (although their body clocks were still on London time and thought the time was actually 03:30hrs on Monday morning).

They all slept well at the end of their London adventure.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Monday, 23rd March 2015**

 **Obstetrics Suite, Private Hospital**

 **Washington DC**

 **13:29hrs EDT**

Angela Hickson laid down the speculum, removed her rubber gloves and wheeled her stool back from Carolyn's splayed thighs; her nurse assisted Carolyn out of the stirrups and helped her to sit up and reorganise her dress and underclothes. As David handed her one of her boots, Carolyn looked at Angela with a raised eyebrow. Angela smiled and began her report.

"Well Carolyn you are fine, for a 51-year-old first-time mother-to-be! The urine test confirms that you're pregnant (like you had any doubt!) and six weeks ago looks about right in terms of hormone levels (although they are slightly higher than I would expect at this stage of your pregnancy). I've checked your uterus, cervix and all points south; you're in good health with good mucous production. Additionally, I have taken a sample to run a cervical smear test because you were uncertain as to when you had your last smear test (and I like my ladies to be tested every five years on the fives and tens.). So please get your jacket on and I'll write a script for pre-natal vitamins".

She paused, as Carolyn stepped from the examination table and sat alongside David, taking his hand.

"Now, as an older mother, you have some additional risk groups - including the heightened risk of a handicapped baby and a spontaneous miscarriage" (she raised her hand as Carolyn leaned forward, opening her mouth to interrupt) "and I *am* aware of the circumstances of your miscarriage in late 2003 but it *is* still treated as an enhanced risk factor, like it or not. We'll schedule an amniocentesis later on as the foetus develops".

She smiled at Carolyn's pretend pout; her good friend and med school compatriot David had obviously found a wonderful woman in this flame-haired lawyer and she wished him well after the heartache of Amanda's death in 2003.

"Carolyn, I want you to come back and see me every two weeks. Although the check-ups would ordinarily be monthly at this stage of your pregnancy if you were younger, I am doubling the frequency of your checkups, because of your age (primarily) and the history of miscarriage (even though we understand the theory of what is most likely to have happened back in '03)". She smiled and reached out to take Carolyn's hand. "This is going to work out just fine, Carolyn - David has handed you to the obstetrics 'A'-team in our hospital".

Carolyn smiled weakly. "Oh yes, I am sure that, with modern medical science, I can be delivered of a healthy baby in 34 weeks' time". She paused, then held David's hand. "But do I really need this at my time of life; Angela, I haven't slept very well since the news - I am absolutely shit-scared of what this means for my body, my lifestyle, my work, young Lorna and Lizzie..."

Angela raised an eyebrow and looked back over Carolyn's medical notes: "Lorna? But this is your first birth - have you adopted a daughter?"

Carolyn shook her head: "No, but I have been her official guardian since her birth and, thank God, Lorna's mom emerged from a coma almost two years ago and we are completing Loren's house next month ready for her planned discharge at the end of May after two years of rehab. But I have basically brought Lorna up as a daughter (I am officially her guardian as I said) since the birth, way back in May of '03 and I am getting to know David's daughter Lizzie, who is Lorna's age".

Angela smiled knowingly and relaxed back into her chair: "Then let me paint two scenarios for your life one year from now. Scenario One; you and David are blissfully happy with your 13-year-old stepdaughter, Lizzie. You get out to the theatre, or date nights at the cinema, you enjoy your car and your clothes, you go riding with Lizzie and Lorna and David (and probably Lorna's mom for all I know). In short, you enjoy life in your nice big colonial house up in McLean and you continue as Carolyn R Imes, advocate and children's attorney until you decide to retire or slow down; in other words, all life is good to you and you live in a neat and orderly existence. OK with that idea, Carolyn and David?".

They both nodded, so Angela continued: "Scenario Two; you are permanently tired, the house smells of baby poo or baby puke alternatively, your 13-year-old stepdaughter is being a responsible teen and is helping you bring up her new brother or sister, your clothes often have little "biological bombshells" on them, you crawl into the home cinema to watch a DVD one night a week, at least one car (maybe both) looks like a mobile crèche, you take turns riding and you stay fit by bicycling regularly or using an exercise bike in the garage, you've delegated more to your staff and they love you for letting them thrive with the extra responsibility which *you* actually trained them to take on, so they love *you* for trusting them. You have received the very best pre-natal and post-natal care from my team, to assure your well-being and that of your embryo. Plus above all, you have a beautiful four-month-old baby boy or girl, who will in time enjoy sparring with his or her big sister and Lorna and will, one day, choose your senior living accommodation! Oh and your nipples are sore from four months of breast-feeding!"

Angela sat back: "So kids, which lifestyle appeals to you most and which one would actually give you the greatest satisfaction and sense of worth?"

Carolyn and David looked deep into each other's eyes, holding hands; eventually they nodded and turned to Angela and said, simultaneously, "the mess!". Angela smiled as they kissed, tenderly, and sat back to consider the implications of their decision.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Monday, 23rd March 2015**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:20hrs EDT**

"Pregnant?" The shock in Loren's voice was clear. She gazed into Carolyn's eyes as the two women hugged.

Carolyn nodded, smiling broadly. "Yes, I know, celibate me, at my age, how could I do it, how could I get my timing wrong at my age? Actually it seems to have been pretty simple and terrifyingly easy to start".

"Pregnant?" again.

Another nod.

Loren cracked the most beautiful smile, "Well, wow and way to go, sister. Oh Carolyn I am *so* pleased for you - and David of course".

She settled back in her chair. "So, what do we need to accomplish on the practicalities?"

"Well, first and foremost, we need to reduce my workload and also my worry level. That means that we need to get *you*, Lady Loren, out of here and settled in McLean before I reach the stage where I cannot lift anything - so come on Loren, get fit and rise up and leave your bed".

"Well Carolyn, I am substantially on track for a successful discharge around the end of May - as these lovely medics planned two years ago. But now I have an even better inspiration - your lovely baby coming in November. Wow, this is going to be a great year - I'm gonna become Lorna's mom for real and then I'm gonna be an aunt to your kid. Roll on the rest of 2015!"

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Wednesday, 1st April 2015**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:30hrs EST - planning for the final touches on Loren's new home**

"Hey Loren - have you picked the final paint schemes?" Carolyn was happy to be on the "home leg" of Loren's recovery and the resulting construction of " _Chateau Loren_ " as she had jokingly named it. Construction was substantially complete, apart from some of the cosmetics, the tiling around the pool area and the powered garage doors to facilitate entry and exit when Loren was driving - small items which, individually, were small but could, collectively, derail the planned completion date. Fortunately, Carolyn's project manager Andrea had kept everything on track - including driving the dates for Carolyn's decision-making tasks.

Lorna sat down alongside her mom on the day-settee and within one hour all the colours were agreed. "Yep, all set and ready for the painters" quipped Loren.

"And now, my friend, the next task is to plan your triumphant return home".

Carolyn was *so* happy that the end was in sight. Once Loren's home was completed and ready for occupation, her own project (briefed to her architect as the project " _to accommodate Carolyn and the Bump_ ") could assume centre stage with some minor amendments to Carolyn's home. She had, long ago, repurposed Lorna's original nursery as another standard bedroom as her ward had grown older.

Her due date was starting to home in on early November. From her first consultation with her OB/GYN, the various ideas around the conception dates all tracked back to Greenbriar over the Valentine's weekend as the point of conception.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Wednesday, 13th May 2015**

 **Dayroom near Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **18:30hrs EST - Lorna's 12th birthday**

"... _Happy Birthday, dear Lorna, happy birthday to you_ ".

The song faded away as Lorna blew out the single candle on her cake. Loren watched her with tears of pride - her daughter was now just one year away from becoming a teenager. Carolyn and David, together with Lizzie, were in the room as part of " _the last birthday party in the facility_ " celebrations.

Loren had carried out her second inspection of the rapidly-completing home which had been built for her and Dr Andersen's team were finalising the details of a day-by-day countdown to her planned discharge date, which was currently set for Thursday June 11th 2015. She was, once more, grateful to whichever cosmic power had decided that she was worthy of saving from the waters of the Potomac that night in 2003.

Carolyn had booked time off for that week in June, to assist Loren in settling in. This would provide closure to the " _river ride_ " phase of Loren's life and leave the nearly-drowned ex-Navy lawyer ready to move on with her life. Although Carolyn would by then be in her fourth month of her unexpected pregnancy, she was determined to stay fit and to be onsite to assist her friend in settling into Loren's new home in which everyone had invested so much time.

Carolyn was donating some excess furniture from her house to help setting up Loren's home (Lorna was yet to decide whether she would move her bed from her guardian's home into her mom's home but Loren and Carolyn had simply agreed to " _let her decide when she wants to decide_ "). The stored furniture which had never made it across to Loren's apartment in Coronado would finally see the light of day after more than 12 years in storage.

Carolyn looked at Lizzie and Loren as they finished off the remaining crumbs of the cake, then her gaze moved across to David. He was looking at her with such love in his eyes it made her draw breath. He walked across to her and hugged her, then placed his hand on her waist, above where her foetus was steadily developing.

"This one will be loved and cherished - as will you, my darling". She nodded her acknowledgement, then rested her head on his arm, luxuriating in the touch of this wonderful man who had merged into her life just at the point when she had expected to continue onwards as a single (and celibate) woman into retirement.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Saturday, 16th May 2015**

 **New Home of Loren Singer and Lorna Singer**

 **73xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **11:10hrs EST**

Loren walked, without any supporting frame, around her new home. She carried a walking stick just as a precaution - it ensured that everyone just gave her an extra foot of room, in case she had an unexpected "wobble". Her eyes were shining with excitement as she checked off the snagging list room by room. The builders were doing an excellent job of clearing out small piles of remaining debris and clearing up the inevitable minor faults that emerged in a new build. She could see herself comfortably living here from next month. She had remembered to always be polite to the construction staff and she smiled joyfully at Carolyn.

"Carolyn, this is amazing - thank you. It is even better than the mockups of the design where we started last year, now that I am standing here. I reckon that Lorna and I will be very comfortable and happy here, thanks to all your hard work in imagining and starting the build. Thank you, my eternal friend".

Carolyn smiled back, just happy to have delivered a success. She had to admit that, with Loren settled in next door to her home by the middle of June, her stress levels would diminish, allowing her to concentrate on her own baby and the final five months of the pregnancy. She settled on a stool in the almost-completed kitchen; her flat-soled shoes hinted at the modifications to her lifestyle necessitated by her unexpected pregnancy.

Lorna reached out both hands, grasping Carolyn and Loren in a gentle grip. "Ladies, I want you both to be comfortable with me transferring my status from a well-loved ward to a well-loved daughter next month when Mom moves in here. Auntie Carolyn, is there anything that you feel sad about? I could not have asked for a better guardian over these past 12 years and I shall always be grateful to you for stepping up when Mom was incapacitated. Thank you".

Lorna kissed Carolyn on the cheek as Carolyn bent down slightly, then placed both her hands on Loren's hand.

"Mom, you have been very lucky that Auntie Carolyn stepped up - I would like us to offer a reciprocal level of help to Auntie Carolyn now that she is expecting her first-born".

Loren patted Lorna's hand then reached out to Carolyn. "Lorna, I shall be honoured to assist my best Navy friend with whatever she needs going forward. We are a formidable team and nothing will break us apart". She looked into Carolyn's eyes: "Thank you, dear Carolyn; now please let *me* help *you* as you embark on the adventure of motherhood".

Carolyn returned Loren's grip and smiled. "Thank you dear friend; yes, I will definitely need your assistance/help/support when the baby gets closer, so thanks in advance".

Loren patted her wrist; "Just a small repayment of the 12-year debt that I owe you and could never adequately discharge, dear Carolyn". The two women hugged, then reached out to Lorna, including her in the "group hug".

"Now, am I too late to change my mind about the colour scheme in the utility room?" enquired Loren.

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Monday, 25th May 2015 - Memorial Day 2015**

 **Arlington National Memorial Cemetery**

 **Arlington, Virginia, 22211**

 **13:50hrs EST**

That Memorial Day, Carolyn and Lorna's pilgrimage to Arlington had two additional members in the group. It turned out that David's wife Amanda was buried in the adjoining section of the cemetery to Pete, so the group of four (and a half!) were able to visit both graves without losing touch with each other. On the return journey, David and Lizzie took the DC Metro Blue Line back into the city and through to Capitol Heights, leaving Carolyn and Lorna to travel back to East Falls Church via Rosslyn.

Lorna had settled into the role of "momma's helper", compensating for Carolyn's slightly-reduced mobility as the pregnancy advanced. Given that Carolyn had passed on the polishing skills the year before, Lizzie ensured that both she and Carolyn were turned out in gleaming polished boots, immaculately-prepared coats and with floral buttonholes on the outer lapels of their coats - opposite the small USA flags on the other lapel. Lizzie looked enviously at the two matching "ladies in black" as she and David met up with Carolyn and Lizzie; she whispered "tell me your style secrets" to Lorna as the two adults were greeting each other. "Sure thing", Lorna replied. They turned to follow the adults into the cemetery.

Walking alongside Carolyn, David looked across at her dignified outfit and the American flag pinned to her lapel. From the tips of her polished boots to the crown of her head, he gained a deep sense that this woman, despite loyally supporting her friend Loren and bringing up Lorna almost as a daughter, had obsessively honoured the memory of her lost love for long enough - just as he had carried Amanda's memory in his heart and visited her grave regularly over the years since her death.

David realised that there was some element of "enlightened self-interest" in his approach - he freely admitted that he had been captivated by this flame-haired goddess in black - and it was quite clear, from her responses, the way that she held his hand and the way that she sought his opinions on many matters, that Carolyn was reciprocating the trust which David placed with her (leaving aside the fact that she had accepted, without hesitation, the fact that she would be carrying his and her unexpected little bundle of joy to term).

Carolyn's baby bump was beginning to show at 14 weeks, straining beneath her buttoned black coat, but David knew that the first trimester now lay behind her and she was well-established on the countdown to delivery. Their Valentine's weekend together in early February at the Greenbriar was obviously identified as the likeliest time for Carolyn's impregnation...

Carolyn also felt that she was beginning to swell quite rapidly, but an OB/GYN visit was already scheduled for the next day - when an ultrasound should also start to indicate the gender of the foetus.

Carolyn began to think, for the first time in 12 years, that a new path in life might be opening up for her. It was time for "the Living" to move forward, whilst still honouring and remembering "the Fallen". She was looking forward to the ultrasound appointment and learning the gender of her growing hitch-hiker. In the preceding week, she had begun to "show" noticeably and she was now growing tired in the late afternoons.

David realised that Amanda had been correct in what she said to him long before her life had been taken: " _Life is for the living_ ". He had high hopes for the upcoming arrival of the new child. Standing alongside Amanda's grave, he felt an almost-overwhelming sense of peace and love. He was sure that Amanda was giving him her blessing to move on. He decided to discuss the matter with Carolyn at their next Thursday evening "date".

Alongside him, Carolyn was coping with a tangled web of feelings, sensations and emotions. With the morning-sickness phase behind her, she was feeling remarkably confident about facing unplanned motherhood in her early fifties. In Arlington Cemetery, as she had bent her knee to kiss Pete's headstone, she had felt embraced and caressed by a strong, unmistakeable sense of love and affection. She now knew that Pete was OK with her moving on - and she was pretty certain that he and Amanda had steered her and David to that riding stables the previous year.

She was content.

Leaning across to whisper in David's ear as they headed back towards the exit, Carolyn asked a question which would have long-term implications:

"David, where would you stand on my preference for marrying before our baby arrives?"

His face simply lit up with pleasure; before he could scramble the words together, Carolyn knew his answer.

"Darling Carolyn, just say where and when. Oh, and obviously the answer is YES!".

 **999-999-999-999**

 **Tuesday, 26th May 2015**

 **Obstetrics Suite, Private Hospital**

 **Washington DC**

 **13:29hrs EDT**

The room was silent as the news sank in.

Angela Hickson handed Carolyn a handful of tissues to remove the ultrasound gel from her stomach then reached for the printer attached to the ultrasound unit. The shocked silence in the room continued as she sat back and looked at Carolyn, who was gripping David's hand and starting to bubble with laughter, despite her sterling attempts to maintain decorum.

Then David giggled, no doubt set off by Carolyn's pregnant body wobbling against him with suppressed laughter; that set off Lizzie, who caused Lorna to start laughing. Carolyn joined in, howling with laughter as the sheer incomprehensibly awful truth finally struck home. Eventually even Angela joined in with a chuckle, trying to hide her face behind her laptop: she failed!

Finally, when decorum had been restored and the belly-wobbling laughter had subsided, Angela looked at Carolyn and asked the one question which no-one had even thought of since they had first met in March for the first OB/GYN consultation. In truth, it was a question which was so far off-the-wall that no-one in her right mind would have thought to ask.

In future years, the sheer chill of terror which ran through Carolyn's stomach at that moment would remind her as the words echoed through her head.

 **"So Carolyn, David: is there any history of twins in either of your families?"**

 **999-999-999-999**

 **End Ch. 9 - "London"**


	10. A new life and new living

**Chapter 10: "A new life".**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** ** _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_** **" disclaimer. To this, I now add "** _ **apart**_ ** _from any fictional character created by myself_** **". Mike**

Now, on with Chapter 10 - we follow Carolyn further through her pregnancy and we settle Loren into her next home as the last step of her resurrection draws near.

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 **Start Ch. 10 - "A new life and a new living"**

 **Tuesday, 26th May 2015**

 **Obstetrics Suite, Private Hospital**

 **Washington DC**

 **13:29hrs EDT**

The room was silent, as Angela Hickson handed Carolyn a handful of tissues to remove the ultrasound gel from her stomach then reached for the printer attached to the ultrasound unit. The shocked silence in the room continued as she sat back and looked at Carolyn, who was gripping David's hand and starting to bubble with laughter, despite her sterling attempts to maintain decorum and resist laughter.

Then David giggled, no doubt provoked by Carolyn's pregnant body wobbling against him with suppressed laughter; that set off Lizzie, who caused Lorna to start laughing. Carolyn joined in, howling with laughter as the sheer incomprehensibly awful truth finally struck home. Eventually even Angela joined in with a chuckle, trying to hide her face behind her laptop: she failed! For a good, long minute, everyone howled with laughter at the unexpected result from the ultrasound.

Finally, when decorum had been restored and the belly-wobbling laughter had subsided, Angela looked at Carolyn and asked the one question which no-one had even thought of when they had first met in March for the first OB/GYN consultation. In truth, it was a question which was so far off-the-wall that no-one in her right mind would have thought to ask.

In future years, Carolyn would remember the sheer chill of terror which ran through her stomach at that moment. The words echoed through her head.

 **"So Carolyn, David: is there any history of twins in either of your families?"**

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 **Tuesday, 26th May 2015**

 **Obstetrics Suite, Private Hospital**

 **Washington DC**

 **13:32hrs EDT**

Carolyn shivered and thought back, through her family history (which she had documented, as a High School project back in Michigan, years ago).

"Angela, as far as I can tell, no there are no twins. Damn, David and I are going to be breaking another family record between us! David, any twins on your side?"

"Not as far as I know, but Danielle is the family historian; let me check with her".

He opened his phone and selected a number, stepping away to avoid disturbing the other patients in the consulting rooms next door. Some minutes later, he came back in with a smile on his face. "Apart from a second cousin to my grandfather, who lives in California and who married into a family with a history of twins, we are also twin-free Carolyn. This is just a freak happening I'm afraid; oh, and by the way, Danielle wishes you good luck".

"Gee, thanks future sister-in-law!" Carolyn replied, smiling to soften any implied criticism.

Angela looked at Carolyn: "OK, so we are looking at a cause closer to home. You mentioned hormones, being peri-menopausal late last year then becoming sexually active again after what you described to me as your ' _dry decade_ ' when we first met?"

Carolyn nodded and Angela smiled conspiratorially as she continued her reply: "Well, the likelihood of a double random ovulation is not unheard of as the menopause arrives and sets in for, dare I say it, women of your age group". She smiled, to cushion the blow of her medical revelation to Carolyn.

Carolyn wasn't much comforted; "Oh boy, this means more fluid, more weight, double the pain at delivery *and* I shall *still* be 70 when they enter University".

Angela took her hand; "Actually Carolyn, twins tend to be slightly down on the birth-weight scales and if needed, we can always perform an elective C-section".

Carolyn looked up at her and frowned. "No, I started this naturally and I shall plan to end it naturally; if I can physically push these babies out in the L&D ward, they'll come out the natural route. It will complete my journey as a woman - oh, remind me of this when I'm screaming the walls down! Besides" she smiled as she took David's hand "the father will be showing me off afterwards on various beaches around the world afterwards and I want to be scar free". David hugged her once more, then kissed her and said "Just name the beach, darling Carolyn; and thank you for taking on this new adventure for us".

Angela flipped open her laptop. "Well, let's have a look at that Carolyn and try to set your mind at ease. _About half of all twins weigh at least 5½ pounds at birth. (Below 5½ pounds, or 2,500 grams, is considered a low birth weight, with a higher potential for complications.) In comparison, the average singleton weighs 7 pounds, but it's not that she's comparatively bigger, it's because on average she's hanging about in utero for another five weeks and ripening every day. That said, it's not unusual for some women to deliver twins that each weigh around 7 pounds if the pregnancy lasts until week 37_ (just think how much better you'd feel when you were done carrying that load around)".

Carolyn sank back onto the table. "Seven pounds, twice? Oh dear lord, I'll be walking like John Wayne. Ah well, I'm in it for keeps now, so there isn't much I can do just now".

"Atta-girl, good spirit" replied David, punching her bicep; Lorna and Lizzie both looked on happily - the upcoming arrival of the new sister and brother for Lizzie had caught their imagination.

Carolyn glared at David, then smiled: "Hey buster, you won't be the one with the stretch marks and balance problems over the next few months". Then she turned her attention once more to Angela.

"So Angela; we're going to be aiming for 37 weeks at least, right? That means early November for my delivery" She sighed and shrugged her shoulders: "Oh well, home for Thanksgiving" Carolyn chuckled.

"Yes Carolyn. Plus, as you can see from the printout, you are carrying one of each. This means that you won't need to go into another pregnancy in the interests of balancing the battle of the sexes; your boy and your girl will give you a full set in November".

"Gee, thanks doc. David, I need to book a small operation for you some time in the next six months!"

Carolyn was still reeling from the revelation that she was carrying twins. She knew that, at her age, the likelihood of her embarking on pregnancy again - ever - was slim to vanishingly small. And yet, as the realisation settled in, Carolyn realised that the alignment of fates was probably in her destiny. A matched pair of siblings meant that historical choices of boy and girl names could be made when the time came for her to give birth.

She just wasn't certain that she was ready for the pain of childbirth. Whilst her former JAG colleague "Mac" MacKenzie would have blustered " _I'm a Marine_ " and tried to tough it out, Carolyn harboured a severe doubt that even "super-Mac" would come through a natural birth of twins unscathed. Thank heavens for epidurals and "gas and air". She would have to pick Harriet Simms-Roberts' brain for experience and advice before she headed towards the delivery room.

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 **Thursday, 28th May 2015**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 ** **McLean, Virginia, 22101****

 **20 **:55hrs EST****

Carolyn and David sat cuddling on the sofa in her lounge. The shock of the revelation that Carolyn was carrying twins had worn off slightly by now. Thursday evenings had evolved from the " _evening out in DC_ " into an " _evening by the fire_ " as Carolyn's unexpected pregnancy developed, where they shared a meal then relaxed on the sofa as they planned their wedding and the upcoming November delivery of Carolyn's twins.

"David, what about names for these two?" asked Carolyn as he gently stroked the swelling abdomen where his/their children were incubating. He looked up at Carolyn with deep love and affection in his eyes. "Darling, so long as they are both healthy (and, even more importantly, that *you* are well), I really don't care". He took her hand: "and as long as I don't lose you in this process, I shall be a very happy man". He kissed Carolyn full on the lips, emphasising his commitment to the flame-haired lawyer who was carrying the evidence of their shared passion.

Carolyn smiled and came up with her big idea for the baby names.

"OK, here's an idea. I've been exchanging emails with my long-time pen-friend Rae in the Netherlands. She gave me an alternative approach. I was thinking, because I am carrying "one of each", about naming them "Peter David" and Amanda Carolyn" - in other words, names which pick up on our lost loves. However she had a counterpoint which makes sense to me".

Carolyn slowly reached down and picked up her laptop from the floor and read out Rae's email: .

" ** _Carolyn: as for naming the twins: my personal preference is always to give kids their own names, mostly. Having said that, I can totally see why you and your David would want to name their kids that way (given your history), so for the sake of their individuality, why not pick a unique first name?. But the decision is yours, because you are doing the hard work, my dear American friend. So I'd say, go for it!"_**

David caressed her hand, where her slightly swollen fingers meant that the engagement ring was seated snugly on the third finger of her left hand. "Hmm, you know what, Rae is right - let's go for three names each. How about you pick the name for the girl and I'll pick the boy name?"

Carolyn thought for a moment then nodded. "Yes, and because it is so distinctive and because she helped me settle the confusion, I'll go for "Rae Amanda Carolyn" for our daughter".

David kissed her then replied: "And, remembering my father's name, I will choose "Richard Peter David" for our son".

Carolyn nodded. "That's a great idea; I'll email Rae; it's obviously the middle of the night in Europe, so she will get it when she logs in tomorrow morning. Come on you, are you heading home or staying over?"

David picked up his car keys. "I'll head home darling. Lizzie mentioned that she had a slight problem with a piece of homework, so I'd better go and look after my existing daughter after spending time with the twins - whom I leave to their wonderful expectant mother who is responsible for my next daughter (and our son) wrapped up safely in her home".

They hugged, kissed once more and then David hopped into his car and headed for home.

Carolyn was in bed by 22:00hrs and was soon asleep. Her babies were settled in her womb and did not disturb her night's sleep, which she needed given the upcoming momentous event - moving Loren home after 12 years in the facility.

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 ** **Saturday 30th May 2015****

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive**

 ** **McLean, Virginia, 22101****

 **09:45hrs EST**

Carolyn rose steadily from the breakfast bar and walked across to the kitchen sink. At Week 15, she was beginning to notice the growing presence of the twins as she moved around. Taking a cup of tea, she stepped out onto the verandah at the back of her house to breath in the fresh air, filtered by the forest of trees around the area. She realised that the construction of Loren's new home next door had, inadvertently, helped her house by shielding a little more of the distant roar of the I-495 Beltway which lay to the west. She went to sit in the plastic chair alongside the table, briefly cursing the growing inflexibility of her pregnant body.

Carolyn realised that she was now in uncharted territory - past the point where she had miscarried with Pete's baby back in 2003. This day held the prospect of new experiences.

However, today of all days Carolyn wasn't going to be held back by her pregnancy. Today, almost two years to the day after her awakening, Loren Singer would finally leave the Facility and move in next door as her new neighbour. Loren had made even better progress than had been expected and had decided that she wanted to start the month of June as a resident in the new home. Dr Andersen, along with Debbie Cromwell the physio, had approved the early release and both had expressed their joy that one of their clients would be walking, unaided, out of a long-term care facility after a long period in coma.

Carolyn was so pleased that Loren had survived her "swim" at Great Falls on that January night so long ago. She was not yet prepared to cut young Lorna fully loose (mainly because of the huge emotional ties which she had formed during 12 years of nurturing the girl during Loren's long coma and two-year resurrection), but this day was an inevitable step in Loren's resurrection.

Additionally - and, to be frank, in her interests - Carolyn needed to cut back on her childcare commitments with Lorna in order to focus on her upcoming deliveries in mid-November (if the twins went to term, which was not always assured).

Lorna had gone across earlier to the Facility by taxi to help Loren pack up the final items in her room. Carolyn would be driving over for an arrival at 10:30hrs, and would then run Loren (and Lorna) home to Old Dominion Drive. Most of Loren's possessions from Room 1013 had been relocated to Old Dominion Drive the day before.

With breakfast finished, she sat still for a moment in the plastic chair, talking quietly to the twins; she had begun this morning conversation the day after she had discovered that she was carrying twins. She was very happy chatting quietly to "Bump One" and "Bump Two" as she had named them. The shock of Tuesday's discovery was ebbing away and she had accepted the idea and was now working through the impending logistics of being a 50-plus year-old mother of new-born twins.

From the Netherlands, Rae had replied to Carolyn's email during the Friday, enthusiastically endorsing Carolyn's naming conclusion and expressing her appreciation at being honoured by the naming of Carolyn and David's upcoming daughter. Rae and her husband were already planning a trip to DC for 2016, using the excellent worldwide airline network of the KLM-Air France group centred on Amsterdam's Schipol airport.

With the names chosen, Carolyn felt a greater sensation of contentment as she contemplated achieving motherhood for the first time at the age of 51. She had a different perspective now, as a pregnant 51-year-old fiancée, compared with a pregnant 39-year-old defrocked former JAG officer. The Carolyn Imes of 2015 was far improved above the broken, defeated, worn-down, lost and secretly-pregnant woman who had slunk away from JAG HQ believing that her life was over.

" _Well Carolyn, you always strove for greatness; this one may stretch you more than you expected_ " she observed to herself. Her mobile pinged, displaying an alarm-clock message reminding her to head out to the facility.

Pulling on her coat and collecting her handbag, she headed out into the garage, closing and locking the internal doors behind her. She climbed into her car and then carefully aligned the seatbelt around her babies, pulling the lap belt low over her hips. She drove out as the automatic door-opener raised the garage door out of her way and then closed the garage door securely. She admired the recently-completed home next door, and was grateful to think that the design incorporated a covered walkway between the two sites.

In designing the walkway, she had expected (when designing Loren's home last year) to be using the walkway to support Loren, whereas now it was far more likely that Loren (and Lorna) would be coming across to assist her in her pregnancy and afterwards with her early stages of motherhood as she, David, Lizzie and "The Bumps" grew into a strong cohesive family. Lizzie had enthusiastically supported the idea of naming the babies and was looking forward to welcoming "Rae Amanda Carolyn" and "Richard Peter David" into their new home in the Autumn.

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 **Saturday, 30th May 2015**

 **Room 1013, Long Term Care Facility**

 **McLean, Virginia**

 **10:25hrs EST - Rehab: the very last day in room 1013**

Heading in through the entrance gates, Carolyn suddenly realised that, barring accidents and given a fair wind, this would be the last time that she would ever visit here; the last time she would drive into the parking lot; the last time that she would walk up to the entrance; the last time that she would walk through the sliding doors, sign in, navigate these corridors to Loren's bedroom and, most importantly of all, chat with the wonderful staff who, for 12 long years, had kept Loren safe and eventually assisted her resurrection.

Apart from Andersen, several of the staff had been in attendance throughout all of the 12 year vigil - including some who had stepped away occasionally for things like maternity breaks and the resulting christenings, but then returned to carry on the overwatch. The "Facility Family" had grown from being just extraordinary carers and specialists into truly long-term friends. Loren had already announced her intention to set up an annual reunion party in May every year.

Carolyn tried to work out how many times she had driven in through these gates since 2003 and rapidly abandoned the attempt to tally up her almost-daily visits over 12 years as futile. " _This is the final visit - just remember that fact and rejoice_ ".

When Carolyn arrived in room 1013 she saw that Loren was ready and fully-dressed, sitting in a wheelchair per facility policy, clutching two walking sticks in one hand, with her handbag on her lap. Lorna stood alongside with Loren's laptop shoulder-bag and a roll-along case, while a nurse was behind, ready to push Loren to the Reception desk, again per Facility policy.

Carolyn cast her eyes around the room; the slightly tired-looking and shabby wall covering (which would no doubt be refreshed before the next occupant arrived) was bare and devoid of the posters, mementoes or other items which had accumulated during Loren's time here, especially in the past two years since she had awoken. It looked like what it was, a well-used hospital room which had served its purpose and was now ready for something (or, sadly and more likely, someone) else. Carolyn shivered slightly and offered up a prayer for the next occupant to experience as successful an outcome as Loren had achieved in room 1013.

Most of Loren's possessions had been transported to her new home on Old Dominion Drive the day before, so Lorna was only carrying a small roll-along pack containing the last-minute and "immediate use" items for her mom. The room was now, officially, " _Loren-free_ ". With one last long look around the room, Loren let out a deep sigh. It was time.

"Ready Loren?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes, ready aye Carolyn. Let's go".

As the small party left the room, Loren raised a hand in the universal "halt" sign. Leaning to the left, she plucked the label, bearing her name, from the wall-mounted clip and slid the red sign across from " ** _OCCUPIED_** " to the green of " ** _AVAILABLE_** ". Pointing a walking stick forward, she uttered the famous "Buzz Lightyear" phrase: " _To infinity and beyond_ ". The TV documentary film crew (who had worked behind the scenes as an attachment to Lorna's school project) followed her triumphant progress to the exit door.

Down the corridor in Reception, Karl Andersen along with Debbie Cromwell and many of the staff members had gathered, along with a photographer. Group photographs were taken, as a souvenir of the truly momentous things that had occurred during the past 12 years. Despite losing several patients to deaths which had occurred along the way, Andersen was overjoyed that a decade-long coma patient was going home conscious, sentient and fully-functioning. Anderson leaned in and kissed Loren gently on the cheek. "Now, apart from routine checkups, be sure not to need a return here, and thank you my darling for all the information which you have enabled us to acquire for future patients who will come here".

The nurse handed over the wheelchair to an orderly, who wheeled the chair up to Carolyn's car and applied the brakes. Carolyn held the door open for Loren as she stood up from the wheelchair and climbed up into the passenger seat of Carolyn's car and buckled up. Although her eyes had long-since become accustomed to full daylight, Loren had automatically donned a set of shades, in a style which matched her "driver". Lorna dropped the night-case into the trunk then took up position by the rear seat as the orderly wheeled the chair back into the building. Wincing slightly at the pressure of the growing twins on her pelvis, Carolyn took up position in the driving seat and carefully adjusted her seatbelt once more, to protect her precious cargo. Lorna buckled up in the rear passenger seat.

With smiles and happy waves, Carolyn's car drove slowly around the entrance apron of the facility before heading towards the open road.

 **Loren had left the building.**

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 ** **Saturday 30th May 2015****

 **Home of Loren Singer (the new home)**

 **73xx Old Dominion Drive**

 **McLean, Virginia, 22101**

 **14:47hrs EST**

"Welcome to my home, Carolyn and thank you for *all* your help".

Loren greeted Carolyn as she walked into Loren's home via the covered walkway and halted on the threshold. Loren stood ahead of her with arms outstretched in welcome, with Lorna away to the left, smiling at Carolyn as they welcomed her into the entrance lobby.

"Permission to come aboard, Lt Singer?"

"Permission granted and thank you for everything, Commander Imes". The two women embraced and hugged, both shedding happy tears as they pulled Lorna into the grouping. David and Lizzie would be arriving in the early evening, for a celebratory meal in Carolyn's home next door. All three sat at Loren's breakfast bar as Loren served the first cups of coffee to her first guest in her new home.

 **Loren had survived the river, recovered from her injuries and was home with her lovely 12-year-old daughter. The rest of her life lay ahead. Carolyn had performed her duties as guardian with admirable effectiveness; now she could concentrate all her considerable energies on becoming a mother with a successful late-in-life unexpected pregnancy to assuage the pain of her 2003 miscarriage.**

 **The future looked golden as the two former JAG colleagues sat together and contemplated the start of June 2015.**

 **1010-1010-1010-1010**

 **End Ch. 10- "A new life and a new living"**

 **A/N: 06-05-2018 - final part (The Epilogue) to follow on/around Sunday 20-05-2018. Mike**


	11. Epilogue

**Chapter 11EP - Epilogue: Closing the threads of "Resurrection 2013". The circle of life is completed.**

 **See my Original A/N (added 19-01-2018 in Ch1) for the "** ** _they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them_** **" disclaimer. To this, I now add "** _ **apart**_ ** _from any character created by myself_** **".** **Summary: this is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. I simply wanted a more-positive outcome for one story-line in the "JAG" canon. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about? Mike (Moved up to a "T" classification from Ch5 onwards).**

 **Final A/N 17-05-2018:** Rae; thanks for your help and (constructive!) criticism. I am truly grateful for your wise counsel on parts of this story during development.

Now, on with the Epilogue; it is time to tie up the loose ends - you, my audience, deserve nothing less. I shall then return all characters to an upright position! Mike.

 **11EP-11EP-11EP-11EP**

 **Start Ch. 11EP - Epilogue - the circle is completed**

 **Friday, 25th December 2015, 17:25hrs EST**

 **Home of Carolyn Imes**

 **72xx Old Dominion Drive, ** **McLean, Virginia, 22101******

Carolyn and David stood watching over their twins in the identical cribs in what was now *their* home in McLean. With sensible pre-nup agreements, David and Lizzie (at Lizzie's original suggestion, it must be said) had vacated their home in DC and moved out to the suburbs into Carolyn's home. It gave a sense of family for their new life after their wedding and enabled the rental income to be placed into a college trust fund for Lizzie's future. David had initially been nervous about broaching the subject of relocating Lizzie from the only home that she had ever known, yet it had been Lizzie herself who made the suggestion. It turned out that two of her best friends had also recently relocated to McLean (again through second marriages) and she was very happy to change schools and rejoin her friends at the local High School.

Rae and Richard were approaching their three-month "birthdays". With a small glass of sherry each (Carolyn was still breast-feeding the twins), David and Carolyn looked down at their little miracles. Above the cribs on the window-sill was Carolyn's favourite photograph from her wedding with David, some three months before the babies arrived; she stood alongside David as the same head height - she had surprised everyone (including her Matron of Honour Tracy Manetti) by wearing heels on the day. Her wedding outfit made no secret of her condition and the favourite picture in their wedding album had their entwined hands, rings displayed, resting on her 23-week "bump".

Following her marriage to David in the July of 2015, Carolyn's life was finally settling down following the births on Halloween night in 2015 (the loud fireworks explosions next door had jolted Carolyn into a slightly early delivery, which had surprised three "trick-or-treaters" standing on the doorstep at that precise moment! Fortunately, one of the parents of the "trick-or-treaters" was a nurse).

David kissed the crown of Carolyn's head. "Darling, if I was to die tomorrow, I would remember this moment forever. I will always remember Amanda and I shall always remember Lizzie's birth, but these babies - to me - complete the circle and tell me that healing is possible. I love you Carolyn-wife",

"I love you, David-husband". Carolyn relaxed against David's chest; the past two years had seen unbelievable change in her life - not just the resurrection of Loren Singer, but the arrival of Carolyn's twins. She remembered the hard work in the delivery room, but the pain (and the memory of the pain) had quickly subsided at the moment when she had, with a sense of wonderment, held both her babies in her arms the first time. Angela had provided perfect reassurance and the twins, Rae followed by Richard, had arrived within minutes of each other, at 23:57 on Hallowe'en and 00:08 on November 1st respectively, giving them different birth dates on the official records.

"Merry Christmas Carolyn-wife".

"Merry Christmas David-husband".

 **11EP-11EP-11EP-11EP**

 **Saturday, 27th May 2017** **09:10hrs EST**

 **Home of Loren Zhukov-Singer and Sergei Zhukov-Singer**

 **73xx Old Dominion Drive, **McLean, Virginia, 22101****

Loren cleared the breakfast items into the dishwasher, tidied the kitchen and, taking a glass of fruit juice, wandered into the family room. Carolyn was out of her house next door, escorting a 14-year-old Lorna to the Memorial Day rehearsals at her school (Lorna was a keen member of the school marching band, where she was in final preparations for the Memorial Day parade the next day). Lizzie and David were at the stables, where Lizzie had expressed an interest in taking her dressage riding further.

Carolyn had continued (at Loren's insistence and with her active encouragement) to play a close and active part in Lorna's continued development once Loren had emerged from her resurrection and rehabilitation. Loren had steadily settled into her role of being a "new mom" to Lorna, steadily taking over the role from Carolyn. This was facilitated by the location of their two homes, sitting next door to one another and being linked by a covered walkway. The home had been built after Loren had finally consented to break into the trust fund which her deceased parents had established for her (another benefit from Tracy Manetti's dogged search for all Singer assets as she had built the case for long-term care and guardianship, way back in late 2003).

As part of the expanded "family support programme", Lizzie was happy to help out Lorna when babysitting Carolyn and David's 19-month-old twins Rae and Richard, who had arrived a little over three months after Carolyn and David had married in late July of 2015.

All family members who were in the area gathered regularly for what had become the traditional weekly "Old Dominion Drive Sunday lunch" at Loren's. This had started out as a house-warming event for Loren's new home, then assumed a place of permanence in the weekly calendar. By tradition, an empty place setting was always laid - both to honour those who had passed on and also to be able to welcome any last-minute surprise guests. Carolyn usually walked across on a Saturday evening to assist with preparing the vegetables ahead of Sunday, enabling David to concentrate on spending time with Lizzie (both Carolyn and David were determined that Lizzie should not, in any way, feel "left out" by the arrivals of little Rae and Richard, so Saturday night was "quality time for first daughter"). Tracy Manetti and her family usually dropped by on the first Sunday of every month, to catch up, share gossip and compare the growth spurts in the various offspring.

Loren also knew that, since her resurrection in 2013, Carolyn had many, more-pleasant reasons to mark the Memorial Day weekend (although Carolyn would, of course, be travelling to Arlington in her black outfit on Monday). However, Carolyn would never be making that walk through the Arlington cemetery alone, ever again, because her extended surrogate family would be accompanying her, as they had every time since she had got together with David, on each pilgrimage to Arlington to pay respects at Pete's grave and Amanda's grave.

Similarly, the Christmas Eve visit to Pete and Amanda's graves had evolved and extended. The visits had spun off a respectful pair of birthday lunches at Arlington around their graves. The Christmas Eve gatherings saw everyone together at the gravesides ahead of an extended family lunch, before the families attended Chaplain Turner's traditional JAG Christmas sermon in the evening. This service provided a friendly and convenient opportunity for JAG friends, old and new, to catch up and re-acquaint, whatever the intervening year had thrown up. The sermon was followed by a " _bring the drinks, Harriet will provide the food_ " party at the home of Bud and Harriet Sims-Roberts. The Zhukov-Singer family group then accompanied Sergei to the long black wall of the Vietnam Memorial, where he bade "Merry Christmas" to his long-dead father and usually met up with his older half-brother Harm Jr and Harm's family, if they were spending Christmas in the cold of DC rather than the Californian sunshine of La Jolla.

Loren's thoughts turned once more to how she had been able to invest successfully in Carolyn's practice, growing the advocacy side of the business whilst cross-funding the "pro-bono" work from the increased litigation fee income. Loren had also started working there two days a week, most weeks, in the practice after her re-qualification (or " _aggressive re-instatement_ " to describe the campaign which Tracy Manetti had run on her behalf) to the Virginia State Bar.

The fact that no previous Bar-certified attorney had ever survived a ten-year coma made the Loren Singer case unique, but the Virginia Bar had rapidly conceded to Tracy Manetti's eloquent arguments and had rapidly re-instated Loren, as well as welcoming her with an unexpected present - an invoice for twelve years of back membership fees! Loren had been very pleased to settle that invoice, then had it framed in her office alongside her new and original Bar certificates.

She knew that Carolyn was unlikely to ever retire fully, although as the flame-haired lawyer settled into her fifties she had been forced into stepping back slightly, because of the birth of "bump-female-1" (Rae Amanda Carolyn) and "bump-male-1" (Richard Peter David), aka " _The Terrible Twins_ ".

Lizzie, as a fully-involved stepdaughter, had been a god-send to her stepmother and assisted with many aspects of the babies' upbringing. Carolyn's continuing practice was well-regarded and envied far beyond the Beltway; all of her staff loved "The Boss Lady" and she continued to achieve great results for families with problems. She had trained her staff well and everyone delivered to her high standards.

Carolyn and David had got back into the saddle in May 2016 (when Little Rae and Little Richard were seven months old) and there were several trips to Shenandoah Valley during 2016, including the second anniversary of their first weekend meeting on 15th September. Lorna usually came along on these trips and Lizzie and Lorna always enjoyed the weekend expeditions into Shenandoah Valley.

The year of 2016 had been devoted to further improving Loren's stamina. Although she had never (yet!) achieved her goal of cycling the entire 45-mile length of the W&OD Trail (along the old railroad grade of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad from DC up to Purcellville) she had regularly driven the support vehicle for the group expeditions up the trail (which Lorna, Lizzie, David and Carolyn had cycled regularly once Carolyn was back to fitness after the births of Rae and Richard). On one occasion, Loren had cycled around seven miles out towards Leesburg, to greet the group at the Route 7 crossing point and then cycled back up to Purcellville. She knew that she was able to pass the US Navy Fitness tests for re-instatement, had she decided to apply to re-join the JAG corps. For now, inactive Reserves suited her fine - especially after the shock of her honeymoon pregnancy.

Loren put her glass of juice aside and stretched out on the sofa to peruse the huge Saturday edition of the newspaper. Looking down the length of her body, she realised that her feet were beginning to disappear behind the baby bump. This unplanned pregnancy at the age of 46 had come as a considerable shock to her - and triggered another round of visits, studies and "poking and prodding" by the NASA team, ESA researchers and a visit from Dr Andersen. Jokes about " _supporting your child when you are in your walking frame_ " had been dismissed with the ultimate put-down from Loren (usually accompanied by a wide, welcoming smile): "I d _on't care, because I am alive!"_

Loren had supported Sergei and had eventually adopted young Yekaterina Galina Zhukov (known universally as "Galina Katyusha") after Sergei's transfer to the USA - which followed the tragic death of his beloved Galina in a car crash in Russia during March 2015, some two years after Loren's resurrection. Sergei's role as Aeroflot station chief at Washington Dulles had enabled him finally to put down roots and Harm's obsessive determination had finally revealed and uncovered, in Trish Burnett's long-stored possessions, a set of letters from Harmon Rabb Senior - sufficient to provide direct DNA evidence to support an ultimately successful application for Sergei's US citizenship.

Yekaterina's birth in late 2005 had occurred two years after her parents' marriage; Sergei had last visited the States in early April 2003 to introduce Galina Borkova to Harm. They had enjoyed a "honeymoon" year before starting their family, with the result that Yekaterina had been about to celebrate her 10th birthday when her mother was killed. Grieving, Sergei had taken the Aeroflot job at Dulles when it unexpectedly became vacant in October 2015 and had introduced a 10-year-old Yekaterina to American culture - and her distant California second-cousins in Harm's family.

On Christmas Eve 2015, Sergei had met Loren at the Vietnam Wall, where she was meeting with Harm Junior to commemorate the loss of Harmon Rabb Senior. In a sense of " _deja vu_ ", Sergei and Loren found that their mutual attraction was still there (although buried deep) and they began dating ("again?" Lorna had enquired when she heard the news) on Valentine's Day of 2016. Loren had appreciated the increased maturity that she found this time around in Sergei, and their two bodies had fitted together very easily during the summer of 2016. Although Loren had been fairly certain that her fertile days were behind her, she stayed on the Pill until the autumn, when Sergei had surprisingly proposed marriage.

Loren's Russian-language skills had come into use when she travelled with Sergei and Yekaterina to visit Galina's parents in Minsk, to successfully obtain their blessing for Sergei to marry Loren. Yekaterina's IT skills had already enabled SKYPE conversations to become a regular feature of her communications with her grandfather ( _dedushka_ ) and grandmother ( _babushka_ ). The Zhukov-Singer home often rang to the sound of international conversations as well as English conversations, all taking place simultaneously in different parts of the large house. Loren and Sergei had agreed (with young Yekaterina's consent) to formally adopt Katyusha on the day of their wedding.

Loren and Sergei had married on January 5th 2017 - the 14th anniversary of her "swim" - and thus had enjoyed a great start to 2017. The honeymoon activities that week had resulted in the conception of what was now being referred to as "The Bump 2.0" as Loren headed towards her fifth month of pregnancy. Loren had rationalised that Sergei's age, 12 years younger than her, meant that he had lived through her 10-year coma and was therefore more-or-less the same "soul" age as she was after her deep-freeze - a good enough reason for her to marry the (physically) younger man. Sergei's first marriage, to Galina, had caused him to mature from the slightly nervous, reticent young man whom Loren had first met that day long ago in Harm's apartment. At Sergei's request (and mindful of his initial comment about her hair in its Navy-style "bun"), she customarily wore her hair loose or, at best, in a long pony-tail.

Loren and Sergei were glad to receive the periodic updates from (and contacts with) Harm's family in California. The Rabb dynasty, just like the Loren/Lorna/Sergei/Galina/"Bump 2.0" dynasty, spanned a number of decades. Lt Matilda Grace Rabb-Walden (USN) was now serving as an F/A-18 Hornet pilot, although this year the 29-year-old was on maternity leave awaiting the arrival of her first child. She and Loren had hooked up and frequently exchanged news and views as their pregnancies advanced almost in parallel.

Mattie's husband, Lt Cdr Daniel "Danny" Walden (nickname "Spliff"), had matured significantly following his enlistment in May of 2001 as an alternative to prison and he had subsequently qualified for OCS, which he had emerged from as third in class. His mother Sydney Walden was still very proud of him and his progress, although she lamented the fact that Danny's teenage shenanigans had deprived her of more quality time with Admiral Chegwidden (their time together had been cut short by AJ's death from prostate cancer).

Sydney doted on Mattie and was very proud that her former "wild child" Danny had knuckled down and grown into a fine young man and serving officer - validating the faith and trust of AJ Chegwidden as well as Judge Geary. Indeed, it was the "nod" from AJ that assuaged Harm's initial doubts about supporting the start of Mattie and Danny dating, given Danny's "wild child" (or "p _roblem child reformed_ " as AJ described him) reputation. Both Mattie and Danny were looking forward to their impending parenthood later in 2017.

Loren looked at the Celtic "wedding" ring on her right hand and the Russian wedding ring (three inter-twined gold bands of different colours) on her left hand. Her life was definitely complete - and with no signs, at all, of still wanting to become the Navy's first female JAG. Her life was stable, satisfying and enjoyable. Once more, she offered up a short prayer of thanks for her deliverance from the waters that dark and cold and snowy night on the Potomac back in early '03.

Reading the weekly summary of local news, her eye was drawn to an article on an inner page:

 **" _Parents bid final farewell to Irish couple at Great Falls_ ".**

The article included a backstory which rehashed a report from a year earlier, when two more people had died in Great Falls. This was not an isolated incident. In a report published in 2013, it had been announced that 27 people had died around Great Falls since 2001.

The name of one of the latest victims caught Loren's eye. Declan, who had (just prior to the tragedy) sold up a highly-successful IT services company headquartered in Shannon Ireland but with a large US operation based out of Boston, had fallen into the river along with his pregnant fiancée, an Irish lady called Mairead. The bizarre coincidence was too much for Loren to ignore. Further reading confirmed her worst fears - the surname matched "her" Declan - the accidental father of her Lorna.

She read through the article and came upon the reason for this week's article in the paper in May 2017. The parents of Mairead and Declan (both sets of parents came from Galway and had travelled over to the USA together) had returned to the bridge to scatter the united ashes of the two deceased Irish love-birds at the place of their deaths. This small, private ceremony had happened on the previous Monday and the parents were now back home in Galway, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the western Irish coast as they healed following the loss of their children.

Declan's mother was quoted: " _We were informed from witness statements that Declan and Mairead were at the edge of Great Falls and that Declan was proposing to Mairead when they fell into the waters. The couple had recently revealed to friends that Mairead was pregnant with the couple's first children. Mairead's brother, back in Galway, is still inconsolable regarding the loss of his younger sister and the unborn nephew and niece. **It is our eternal regret that we shall never see our grandchildren or watch them thrive**_ ". That line took Loren's breath away.

The article continued, beneath a photograph of the four older Irish parents standing on the bridge over Great Falls, holding the cremation urns containing the ashes of Declan and Mairead prior to committing the ashes together into the Potomac river, to mingle for eternity. Loren shivered - the saying " _someone walked over your grave_ " suddenly rang true to her.

Loren folded the newspaper so that the article was on display and fired up her laptop, researching flights to Ireland and deciding that it was time to lay yet another ghost from her past. Unselfishly, she wanted to let Declan's parents know that, however accidentally, they now had a 14-year-old granddaughter resident in the USA. Obviously, Loren needed to track down Declan and Mairead's parents - a quick referral to a private detective agency in Dublin would facilitate this, if she wasn't able to find what she needed with an internet search. Carolyn's practice also had an excellent investigator on the books, so she had several routes to find the information that she needed in order to build an itinerary for the trip to the Emerald Isle.

Long ago, Loren had made her peace with the river. On July 5th 2015, twelve and a half years after her swim, she had stood once more on the bridge where her life had nearly been ended on that winter night long ago, with Lorna, Carolyn, David and Lizzie, recounting the tale. A stray piece of tape still remained, stuck under the corner of the railing where her blood had been found during the subsequent NCIS investigation; she touched the back of her skull, grateful that there had been no permanent impairment of her faculties. Looking into the river (which was more placid in summer than the raging winter torrent into which she had been thrown), she realised that the margin between being thrown up onto the rock where she had been found and simply being washed away to the Tidal Basin was something like two feet - a metre at most. Standing on the bridge, a cold sinking feeling had settled on her as she realised how lucky she had been, as she re-dedicated herself to becoming a better person.

Loren finally knew with certainty what she needed - no, she corrected herself, she *had* - to do. It was only fair; it was right; and it signified, far better than any other action, how far Loren Marie Zhukov-Singer had developed from the self-centred, self-obsessed, driven, spiky, shrewish individual whom Ted Lindsey had dumped uncaringly into the raging waters of the Potomac that night at Great Falls on January 5th, 2003.

She offered up, once more, a quick prayer of thanks to Carolyn's Marine Pete for rescuing her that night. Her mind wandered over the folded newspaper in her hand. She looked at the framed photograph, on the window-sill, of Carolyn and Pete taken in the summer of 2003. It was time to do some good for a number of strangers, and to " _pay it forward_ " in terms of a good deed for an unconnected stranger. She had made her decision. Her resurrection was complete.

Loren pulled out her Gold American Express card as she prepared to call Amex Travel Services to price up flights and hotels for the trip to Shannon. She tapped Sergei on the shoulder with the newspaper, pointing to the article.

After waiting until he had read it, she then asked him a question as he looked up into her eyes; even having a husband who was 12 years younger than her didn't detract from her happiness at being able to discuss "anything" with him.

 **"Sergei: how would you fancy taking Lorna, Galina and "The Bump" to Ireland? I think we should invite Carolyn and Lizzie along as well".**

 **Sergei's reply was swift and affirmative: " _Da, my darling; we should go - and soon_ ".**

 **FIN-END-FIN-END-FIN-END-FIN-END**

 **Thank you for your time, your comments, your reviews and your suggestions during this Alternate Universe journey based around Loren Singer's unscheduled swim in the Potomac on that early January night in 2003 (the fictional event which spawned the excellent "NCIS" series). The ripples in the timeline of the "JAG" universe can now return to their previous smooth pattern and I'll put the "JAG" characters back in their box. Let me know if you would be interested in reading the "Ireland" follow-on short story at some point - post a review please, preferably when you are signed in so that I can reply to you.**

 **Mike: England, 20-May-2018.**

 **FIN-FIN-FIN-FIN**

 **End Ch. 11EP "Epilogue"**


End file.
